Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Wayfarers of the Storm
by MisterBland1
Summary: In Orchidia, a world only known to pokémon, there are stories that transcend time. This is the tale of Lugum, a riolu from Treasure Town, who is thrown into a battle for the future where a single slip can cause the suffering of those closest to her. As her falsely simple life crashes around her, Lugum must find a way to not lose herself in the torrent of destruction. A PMDET&D fic
1. Storming

**Mystery Dungeon: Wayfarers of the Storm**

**Prologue: Storms**

**If you have any comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions that you would like me to respond to, send me a P.M or leave a review. All feedback is appreciated.**

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Orchidia, a large continent placed away from the world of both human and pokémon, enthralls its sole inhabitants- pokémon who see humans as a myth- each and every day. Besides some of the closest landmasses, the ocean surrounding Orchidia seems to continue on infinitely, leading to nowhere. Only the water types far out into the abyss of the ocean know, and they are feral compared to their brothers closer to the shores.

Exploration, always on demand in Orchidia, gave a neat facet to trying to figure out this mystery. Time and time again, a new Orchidian would say that it is their turn to 'chart the unknown waters', and as their friends gave teary-eyed goodbyes, that pokémon's neighbors would cope by making up reasons why he or she is 'the one who can'. If the exact causes of death for these brave souls was ever known, no one cared or wanted to record it. And if there were any discoveries... those were just as lost as the explorers.

So, exploration closer to home, contained within the continent of Orchidia and some of its neighboring islands, became prime as death wasn't so assured. And this exploration was far from boring; imagine that each and every pokémon could journey to the limits of their village, and if they were keen, come back with many stories worth telling again and again.

Forests, mountains, caves and rivers. The four food groups for the outward-bound soul. Young children dream every day of being old enough to see these marvels. What made these places so perfect, so enthralling? Firstly, the inhabitants of Orchidia themselves were worthy of individual studies. Habitual traits, as well as physical features, developed a culture so invigorated and fresh that one town from another might as well be different worlds on top of this different world. A totodile may see a delcatty do something preposterous, like play cat-and-mouse with its siblings, and feel as though they discovered something unique.

Secondly and stated earlier, death was not assured in the exploration of Orchidia- but it was definitely probable. This single fact made Orchidia far more interesting than whatever was out at sea; each dark forest or jagged mountain was a gauntlet, a dungeon, but it seemed so cleverly made unlike the ocean. The ocean killed those who went out, regardless of their might. The mysterious dungeons of Orchidia provided honor, a test that didn't seem so much like suicide.

And interestingly enough, not a single pokémon explored one of these dungeons in the same way. They all saw it differently in their explorations, but they were still all right about its appearance; a long time ago, Orchidians came to the agreement that the forests and mountains change every day, and never come out the same way twice. Stories of the same place doing new and exciting things piled on top of each other, and even the greatest of accounts were soon stepping down for up-and-coming explorers to share their wealth of adventure.

But there are those stories that supersede any notion of time. Most famous being the tale of Lugum, the fiercest riolu to grace- and save- the lands of Orchidia. Instructors in the art of combat tell segments of her battles, intending to inspire their pupils by recounting her acts of bravery. Others, moral teachers of a sort, used her journey as an instructional fable for unruly youth.

Yet, quietly, in the town that she was born into, are parents who use her life as a cautionary tale. Elders, who against all of her successes still pitied her greatly. On days where she would go about town, she tried to keep her head high as the appreciative pokémon she saved feel guilty about what they had collectively done to her. In Oran Town, a few miles away, Lugum was a hero. In Treasure Town, her home... no one called her anything more than a victim.

Both the opinions of Oran Town and Treasure Town are true. A hero and a victim, the tragic story of Lugum of Treasure Town began on a night with two storms raging on different planes. These storms raged on, and while others could hide, Lugum and those involved with her were caught having no choice but to allow it to bear down upon them.

The first storm racked Treasure Town with much more force than was usually typical of its climate. The sturdy stone and wood houses of the citizens of Treasure Town made the storm worth no more than a slightly longer conversation on the weather. For Lugum, heaving and falling to all fours in her attempt to climb a steep hill, the storm posed a greater challenge.

She had promised herself that her attempt a month ago was the last time she would think about joining the 'Wigglytuff Guild', a composition of some of the greatest and most up-and-coming explorers in nearly all of Orchidia. But then the storm started... and she got anxious, as she was wont to do. The sedentary hours of sitting in her small cave helplessly made her feel pressured to act. It took only a matter of minutes for her to be convinced that facing the storm was something that the guild would honor.

Slipping on a scarf and promising that it would stop her from getting sick, Lugum quickly scrambled to find her lucky rock. Although she had never made it through the gates of the guild, Lugum still tried to explore everything she could. The rock, decorated with various symbols, was the first thing she ever found. It was important to Lugum. In fact, she had a lot of trouble remembering what she had been doing that day, or the days before it. She arose next to the nearby river a few years back, and a brief few seconds of panicked searching got her the rock.

She recalled how it unreasonably relaxed her to have it in her paws, and how much she just wanted to settle down. This notion soon became obsolete as the pressure mounted within her, telling her to explore, until she was out in the middle of the harshest storm Treasure Town has ever seen, trying to brave what she couldn't do before.

Scrape after scrape, push after push, Lugum finally stood atop the high hill the Guild resided on. She wiped her eyes quickly with her scarf and winced away the gales of water peppering her face. The pink building towered high above her, and a single grate in front of its wooden gate seemed almost like an altar where one would offer oneself.

"Today is the day!" She yelled excitedly. "I feel great!" Her excitement became confrontational, and very confident. "You think that I'm afraid? Nothing scares me now! I'm getting into this guild _tonight!" _Lugum breathed quickly, hyperventilating to the sole purpose of curbing her rising anxiety. She shook her head violently. "No, _no no no_! Relax Lugum, relax!" She closed her eyes and listened to the storm.

This was it. all she had to do was step on the grate, listen to that loud, penetrating voice, and she could apply. How had it ever been so hard? What happened those last fifty, sixty, or maybe even seventy attempts over the years? "Tonight is," she said to herself happily, as a groaning came from up ahead, "the night where I begin the rest of my life."

Smiling towards the euphoria of finally having closure, Lugum opened her eyes again to hear a large bang, a whistling gust, and to also see a large metal grate hurtling towards her.

In the second storm, the situation called for a harsher kind of pressure. A young human named Ago whistled desperately, again and again in the same tone. High, low, and then high again: the call sign between him and his friend that meant '_help me'. _Not a single noise sounded out from the surrounding forest besides the storm.

Normally, Ago was a storm-chaser with a small crew of 'meteorologists' or whatever one called them. He didn't know the science behind the storm- hell, he hardly knew the mechanics of one- but as the only one man enough to go out into them and do what needed to be done, he had become a quite invaluable, highly paid asset.

Ago decided to quit that job right then, however, because this storm was beginning to piss him off. The only reason he had joined that crew was to avoid a pitiful life as a farmer with his step-dad anyway. Thinking about it, Ago started having feelings close to regret, feeling that agitated him badly. He almost missed the wusses that told him where to go so that he wouldn't get torn in half or something like that. "Fuck whistling," he muttered. "_Get the hell out here, you deaf shit!" _He roared at the top of his lungs. A scuffle rang out, quiet but different from the storm.

Dropping down quickly, Ago grimaced as a dark object hurtled over him, cutting his shoulder. He looked up and saw a sableye, a small, impish creature that was determined to be the bane of his existence. So that was why they didn't use cuss words as call signs. He grunted as he tried to get up and away from the creature, but the sableye remained still. It knew that it had this slow sack of skin in its grasp.

Before it could make its move or toy with its prey, a shaded figure emerged from behind the dark pokémon. Its content turned to fear as the dark green shape effortlessly struck it down with a single swipe. The creature bounced away, wailing. Ago sighed with relief, but he sure wasn't going to show that he had gotten a little scared. "That took you long enough. It had been on my ass half the night."

"I am not deaf," the pokémon answered," I am _patient. _Huge difference. There are other things to do than watch your back all the time."

Ago gave him an incredulous look. "Things more important than _me?!" _

"Yes."

After a few moments of sitting in the storm, the two break out into laughter. "That sableye was so desperate. I've never seen one move in this far."

Ago's unofficial protector stopped laughing immediately and seriously considered what had just been said. Suddenly, the pokémon looked genuinely sad, as if he was about to lose Ago. "Ago... we need to leave. Which way is back home?"

"What are you worried about-"

"_Home. Now." _

This wasn't like him. This scared Ago, and he didn't hide it very well this time. "Uh, it is hard to navigate in this storm... I think it is that way."

A voice rang out above the storm, nearly drowning it out. Ago clutched his head, as if that would do anything- he might as well have put on a tinfoil hat.

"_A little late for that, pitiful rebels. Hello again, old friend. You will not get away with this abominable act you've planned with that putrid traitor." _

Ago's companion kept a straight face, but widened his bladed arms. He threw out the leaves that made them into the ground, and didn't replace them. "Into my arms, now." He wanted to object, but he knew that this was bad- they had been caught. "I know it is demeaning, but we need to move quickly... which way to the cliff?"

The cliff? Ago gave his friend and appalled look as he climbed into his arms. Why were they cornering themselves on purpose? He pointed silently, not trusting himself to speak. They broke into a speedy pace, going towards the cliff. "I need you to whistle as hard and as long as you can. Can you do that for me?"

Ago could not hold back his questions any longer. "Why? What is going on?"

"I've found a way to keep you safe, and to ensure that we can collect the pieces. You must trust me. Remember: have trust in friends or die."

He nodded meekly and started whistling hard, trying to get it to be louder than the storm. Ago cried out as he accidentally bit his finger when the running pokémon ducked under a crashing tree. The storm was picking up, and it was picking up _fast. _After a minute of whistling, the result finally showed: a familiar giggling pink sprite appeared, flying right besides them.

She wasn't Ago's favorite pokémon to know, since she could be pretty obnoxious. Yet he couldn't deny that she had saved his life many times in the past few, very chaotic years. "Heehee," she laughed while fluttering in front of Ago, "tell me Ago, do you like flying?"

It was a mistake on her part that she assumed Ago couldn't add two and two together. What were they planning to do at the cliff? There was a sick feeling in Ago's stomach that he knew. "Wait, what are we doing? Why are we going to a cliff, exactly?"

The running pokémon swatted at the sprite angrily, nearly stumbling as he did so. "Damn it, Celebi."

"P-put me down!" Ago pleaded, "I'll take my chances with whatever's out there. I hate heights!"

"Calm down," Celebi said smoothly and evenly, "we're not doing anything that will hurt you. You'll enjoy this." She turned away, muttering to herself. "We don't have much time... uh... oh! You like storms, don't you?"

Ago shrugged nervously. "Not right now. But usually, yeah. They're powerful- wait, c-can someone fill me in?"

"How about electricity?"

"Haven't used it in years, ever since I got dragged to this hellhole," he answered.

"You volunteered," the running pokémon coughed out. Ago couldn't deny that.

A great choice that had been. "Listen to me," Ago's companion suddenly begged. "You must remember me. Celebi says that what we are about to do may not work perfectly, but you must make it work."

Ago didn't understand. "Make _what_ work perfectly?! Fuck, just tell me!" They were coming upon the cliff. A crashing torrent rang from the bottom of it, waves most likely beating upon the jagged shore. They did not stop moving forward, and Celebi went ahead to the front of the cliff, like a gate-keeper.

"_Stop now, Daté! I shall make you **suffer! **__**STOP!" **_

Daté gave his friend a confident look as they stopped at the edge of the cliff. "You are my friend, Ago. Promise that we will find each other."

Whatever was going to happen, there was no delaying it. Ago trusted this pokémon with his life. "I promise."

The moment Daté had assured that Ago promised to find him, he planted a deft foot on the edge of the cliff. "Close your eyes, and it will be over quick," he said.

"Wait!" Ago cried out desperately. "Don't leave me!" There was no place for a human to survive without help. He had also come to like this pokémon, which was a fairly unique thing for him to say. "W-what if I can't find you?"

Daté looked out beyond the storm, taking the time to think of a real answer for his friend. After a moment, he had it. "Though the parting hurts... the rest is in your hands. I trust you to perform your tasks well, Ago."

And then they leaped off the cliff. Ago closed his eyes as the nauseous feeling of free-falling overwhelmed him. Yet he never felt himself hit the sharp rocks below. Only falling, and falling, and falling...


	2. Rising

Lugum woke up the next morning, but it would be another minute before she could even begin to take in her surroundings. Her fur felt soggy and matted with layers of sticky dust, and the disheveled state helped her remember what happened last night. She had been _so_ close to getting through the gate, but that stupid grate... the intensity of her misfortune shocked her.

What confused Lugum even more, however, was why she had woken up in a deep trench, about six feet deep. For a quick second, she almost concluded that the storm had made it- until she saw a shovel leaning against one of the walls. Her throbbing head couldn't wrap around the situation, but she knew at the very least that she felt absolutely putrid.

There was, no doubt, a bad fever in her future. "How stupid can you get, Lugum?" She asked herself, frustrated at how thick her head was. The walls of her cell were high, but with the help of the shovel she managed to leap up and grab an edge. Soreness ran through her arms, but that didn't stop her from deftly slipping over the edge of the pit.

What she saw outside made her want to fall right back into it. Two Wigglytuff Guild members were talking to each other right outside, their backs turned to her ditch. She battled what she wanted more: to avoid an embarrassing and awkward conversation, or to find out what happened to her. In typical fashion, she decided to simply eavesdrop and kill two birds with one stone.

Without making a single sound, Lugum slowly padded across the now-sunny summit of the hill, until she was just a few feet away. She recognized a very animated chatot immediately. He was the commanding officer of the entire Guild! Chatot the chatot fulfilled every request Wigglytuff had to the letter, though no one outside of the guild knew what the more 'special' tasks were.

She nearly hated the second pokémon: the loudred Sonder. From the sheer amount of times he yelled harshly on purpose just to scare her, Sonder was the closest she got to ever hating somebody's guts. But a long time ago, she had chalked up this dislike to her all-too dramatic frustrations.

Chatot, who had been berating Sonder, finally calmed himself down. "That is it, then? No family to inform... you are absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes, Commanding Officer Chatot..."

"And the blood has been washed off of the grate?"

Blood? Lugum instinctively reached up and touched her head. Still slightly wet from the fierce storm, her paw rubbed off some of the caked-on red substance. That was fairly unsettling; she remembered blocking the grate with her arms, ensuring that it didn't brain her.

"Yes... Commanding- do I have to say 'Commanding Officer' every single time? These rules of yours are getting plain stupid!"

The bird gave a great show of disdain by waving his head away from the loudred. "That's a funny thing to say... to your _commanding officer_. It is Guild Leader Wigglytuff's order, not mine. He considers my work an essential part of the guild, and will have you ruffians show respect. So display this 'respect', or you'll soon find this gig to be very ephemeral..."

"Whoa! Okay, okay. Yes, Flora and I cleaned the grate."

"Did you make sure that she was actually dead? Riolu and lucario have an odd habit of enduring the strangest things."

"I checked with the doctor, 'Commanding Officer'. He says riolu don't have a very good grasp on endure. At least, not enough to prevent 200 pounds of metal from breaking their noggin. Although if she had survived... that would have been _grate_."

"_For Arceus's sake, Sonder! Have some respect!" _Chatot took a few seconds to relax from his shock. "You youth nowadays make a joke out of everything! Despicable."

Lugum had to take a few steps back and sit down. The grate broke her skull? She had died? It was impossible to wrap her head around. The idea that the Wigglytuff Guild and Treasure Town thought she was dead was so... so...

_Embarrassing! _They went through all this trouble to dig the hole... they were going to be so mad when they found out she had just been... not being dead. Perhaps, Lugum considered, she should just go and lay down in the ditch and let them bury her. And then she could just climb out later and move to a town far away.

It was too late for that, though; they would see that the shovel had moved. Besides that, Lugum didn't remember what position she was in when she woke up. And then there was the small fact it was a ridiculous idea.

Turning her head about frantically, she caught sight of the path to the beach. That was a perfect course of action: she would go and relax on the beach for a while, and then tell everyone that she was okay, one by one. She'd start with her boss at the small market in the square- she really hoped this counted as a good reason for missing work.

Rising quietly, Lugum slowly sneaked down the path, taking the earliest turn she could that put her out of sight. Everything seemed alright, until she heard a very shrill and furious bird scream:

"**_Sonder you lame, lame fool! How in the world do you lose a body?! I'm surrounded by ignoramuses! Find her, now! Ay-y-yeee!"_**

Lugum broke into a sprint, making a bee line towards the beach. It was a fairly short walk, but her sprint made it even shorter. As the features of the path flashed by her eyes, she felt like she was finally starting to get back into things. It was a fairly sunny day, considering yesterday's storm.

Slowing down to a slow jog and eventually to an easy walk, Lugum crossed her arms behind her head. If she was more outgoing, this would make for a hilarious prank. She could go and scare some pokémon. Or maybe even scare some sense into the unruly kids at the dojo, who were always bullying the weaker students.

She chuckled. Her being a paragon of justice? That would be the day. It would be a struggle to reprimand a pokémon for _littering_, let alone bullying.

More important than that: no one had attended her funeral. Not even her boss was there, and she was certain that he and she were on good terms. And with all the money she had spent at the kecleon shop on furniture, she thought that she had at least bought two guests into coming to pay respects. It didn't matter, though. Lugum closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm sun.

"Oh, Lugum! How in the world?"

The scratchy voice of a krabby caused Lugum to jump. She laughed nervously, trying to play off the krabby's shock.

"Hey there. F-fine weather, right?"

The krabby simply stared at her.

"Uh, the guild was saying that you were killed last night in the storm. But, well, uh, here you are! It must have been a prank, then. Right? W-wow, they used pecha berries to fake blood and everything..."

Maybe Lugum wasn't as stable and fine as she thought she was. The way the krabby was speaking about her made her very angry suddenly. She shot the krabby an angry glance.

"Nope. I got hit by a grate and my skull shattered. Probably nearly exploded, considering how much of a mess I left." The krabby shifted nervously, obviously debating on whether or not this was actually a prank- or if he was talking to a ghost. "What? Does that make you uncomfortable? Maybe you'd know if it was a prank or not if you attended my funeral, you _fucking asshole!_"

She stopped on the spot. That was a very confrontational and vulgar thing for her to say. There hadn't been a moment where she was that belligerent in a very long time... almost since she woke up by the river. Her rude introduction to Treasure Town didn't help her reputation much, and the fact that this attitude was coming back upset her. But when she tried to apologize, she realized that her bout of anger wasn't quite over.

It was an odd sensation; Lugum felt like she was unconsciously choosing to berate this krabby, as if it was as necessary as breathing. She paced back and forth, cussing more than she had in the past two years. After minutes of harassment, Lugum felt the tantrum reach its end. "Like, this entire _town,_ you know? This entire town just bullies me and doesn't care bout me and I am _done!_ You wanna go get some guild members to take me back in, huh? I can see it in your eyes." In truth, she really couldn't, but that didn't matter much to her during her rant. "Oh, go and get them all. I'll _fuck them up!" _

Finally, it was over. The krabby looked genuinely terrified- her bloody appearance and sleepless eyes must have added to the performance. "Uh..." she didn't really know what to say after that. "Well, uh... ha. ha ha ha. Gotchya!"

The krabby stared at her for a second before he started chuckling. "Oh, I k-k-knew it! Oh, t-those silly g-guild members... well... you should probably clean up now." He quickly scuttled away, down the path she came from, and Lugum's blood ran cold. He was telling on her, and she'd be in trouble. For a second, the most sickening solutions came into her mind. Some thoughts involved a sharp rock sitting near her feet, and others only required her bare paws. Something was seriously wrong with her.

A guild, and not even the Wigglytuff Guild specifically, was the best place for her to get help. For now, she could just wash off before they came to apprehend her, and plead that they lock her away in solitary confinement, or wherever loonies went. Finally, she felt the ground turn into sand under her feet. The beach was empty due to the preceding storm, but everyone else would soon realize that it was a perfect day to visit the beach.

Lugum made her way down the beach, watching the waves roll back and forth. She caught sight of a rock with a shining liquid pooling at the top. It made her feel very guilty; the same krabby she had just scared taught her how to make bubbles using these very pools. There was a special meaning behind it, too.

The water pokémon in the sea got very lonely when their amphibious friends left to explore the inner lands of Orchidia. The krabby said that they used the waves to try and talk to them. And in response, all the water types would gather together and sends out bubbles with their thoughts and wishes inside. Lugum loved it the idea of it because it was a form of communication that didn't make her feel so nervous.

Working carefully, Lugum pushed her right paw into the pool. As the liquid went up towards the edges, a tiny pocket of air escaped as a bubble. She caught delicately, stopping its flight so that she may impart what was on her mind.

"Uh, hello pokémon in the ocean," she started. "I know that you guys aren't really expecting someone like me to be here, but I don't think that I can turn to anyone else right now." She blinked quickly, trying to hold back tears. "I'm about to get arrested, because I had said some very bad things. I didn't mean to... everything has been turned upside down. No one loves Treasure Town more than I do..."

The morning had been too stressful, and she couldn't hold back any longer. "I don't want to get in trouble anymore!" She sobbed. "Why does all this unlucky stuff have to happen to me. Like, l-like wanting to join some stupid guild, or having angry episodes, o-or dying and somehow coming back to life? Arceus," she chocked out, "why couldn't I just _stay dead?" _

The waves responded with absolute silence, as if they were judging her. "I didn't mean that," Lugum whispered towards the bubble. "I only said it because I want to be like everyone else. Riolu and lucario have special clans, and they stay so very far away from any towns... no one understands why I do the things I do. It's all so mysterious, you know? And no one can help me get through what I'm going through."

"That's all I want nowadays. Just a single pokémon that can understand me fully. I know that it is a curse to be such an open book, but I feel that if there was just one other pokémon in Orchidia that could understand... I wouldn't have to be so estranged from everyone. They could make everyone understand why I am how I am."

The waves didn't care, though. Wiping off her eyes, she let the bubble go out. It flew away quickly and popped unceremoniously on the crest of a tiny wave.

"That's that," she muttered, "thanks for listening." She had to wash off now, so that her arrest was as smooth and peaceful as possible. As she put her legs into the ocean water, a sudden urge over took her. Looking out towards the oceanic expanse, she turned her head up towards the sun. She followed its brightness, and its shine on the water, until she was taken aback with shock; lying just a few feet away, face-down in the water, was the yellow-furred back of a pokémon.


	3. Floating

Lugum froze, the water lapping against her legs, unable to take her eyes off of the body in the water. Had it too been slain by the storm. She observed the body with a nervous curiosity; it was the first time Lugum had seen anything like this, and it was nerve-racking. She compared it to how she might have looked lying down in the tomb.

What were the water pokémon in the ocean telling her? What an odd, grotesque thing to send to somebody so distraught! Nonetheless...

Without another moment to waste, Lugum began to move quietly, sneaking up on the body. She slowly curled it up under her arms, turning it over so she could see its front. It was a pikachu, which confused Lugum. Perhaps the storm got him excited like it did to her, and it caused it to get reckless. It was a he, and his eyes were thankfully closed, not bugging out like all the stories say.

Hopefully nobody would enter the beach then, Lugum prayed, because if they saw her caked in blood and carrying a limp body, it would be fairly hard to excuse herself. She didn't want to leave the body lying next to a rock- there was no way to she was going to show the same disrespect everyone had shown her- but she had to clean herself off. Being so dirty scared her, in a way.

"Don't... don't go anywhere, okay?" She said. The water was very cold, but it soothed her aching head. After a few minutes of ruthless scrubbing, all that was left of her odd night was some red foam on the outgoing wave. Maybe things weren't so bad, after all. There was definitely something manic about her behavior, granted, but Lugum felt like she could get over it. She got over a lot of things.

But when one hears a faint bout of coughing coming from a shore where only a dead body lies, Lugum had a lot of difficultt getting over _that._ She sprinted out of the water, stinging salt-water smacking her eyes as she rushed up to the pikachu.

"Hello?!" She asked, shaking him. She prayed to Arceus that she didn't imagine it. "Hello?" No. There was no way that she had just heard things; this pikachu was alive. He just needed to get the water out of his lungs, was all. Shifting the pikachu onto his back, Lugum placed her paws onto his chest.

Every night in Treasure Town, the Spinda Café held an open mic night for guild members. Frequently, it was used so that explorers could brag about the dangers they encountered. Rarely, there would be someone genuinely concerned about being safe against these dangers. She didn't remember who gave a demonstration, but she could recall that it involved pushing water out.

The issue was that she felt unsure of how hard to push. There was pushing too softly, and pushing too hard. The latter would hurt, but the former would do nothing. "Sorry," she squeaked anxiously. Using her leverage, she pushed as hard as she could into the pikachu's chest. He coughed out water violently, and shocked Lugum by curling up about his chest.

The pikachu rolled about on the ground, gasping and groaning at once. "What, the _fuck!?" _That wasn't the 'thank you' Lugum was expecting. A few more heaves, and a couple more obscenities, and the pikachu was finally docile.

Lugum inched closer to the vulgar pokémon. "Hi."

"Hey," he responded, "do you do that to everyone you meet?"

"Do what?"

"Break a few of their ribs?"

Lugum shifted uncomfortably. "I... I just wanted to help. You were drowning," she whispered.

He groaned as he sat up. "What? You have to speak up. I can't hear a single thing you were saying."

The longer the pikachu kept eye contact with her, the more nervous she got. "Eh...eh weh... you were drowning and er..."

The pikachu looked down at himself. Lugum couldn't help but notice his quaint reaction to seeing himself; it was a look somewhere between exasperation and frustration. "Fuck," he commented, "this isn't normal. Pretty sure something's wrong..." he turned to Lugum, who had managed to keep her mumbling up throughout. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry for yelling. This is just a little stressful for me, got it? I don't need you mumbling in my ear, though."

"I'm... sorry."

"Use your big girl voice and tell me your name," he demanded.

She wished very hard that she could talk to this pikachu just like how she berated that krabby. All she could manage, however, was a disdainful turn and a frown. "Lugum."

The pikachu wobbled as he stood up, attempting to balance himself. Lugum knew partly what it must have felt like, and it made her a little more empathetic. "Well, Lugum, I'm Ago, and I'm a little lost. Do you think you could tell me where I am?"

"Treasure Town."

Ago shook his head. "No, uh, not that. I mean the country."

"Country?"

"... oh boy. The continent?"

Lugum knew the answer to that. "Orchidia, of course!"

"What year is it?"

"I'm sixteen years old."

Ago sighed and wiped his eyes. "Damn it, Lugum, you're not an 'it'." He probably didn't intend for the comment to be so uplifting, but it was. Other than some compliments from her boss at work, that was the nicest thing somebody had said to her in a while. "Is it 2011? 1956? 1872? Before or after the common era?"

She wanted to at least try and be helpful, and to also not look like a complete idiot. "Uh... we don't record time very well." Before Ago could complain, she interrupted him. "Wait! But there is this one story I heard, about the destruction of Great Treasure Town, and that was 320 years ago... so I guess that it is 320 after Great Treasure Town!"

"Did you just invent a new time-keeping system just so you didn't have to say 'I don't know' to me?" She nodded meekly, sad that Ago didn't like the idea. "So you don't know the year. What is Orchidia like?"

Lugum absolutely could not go for strike three. "It is very nice. It can be very sunny or cold based on where you live and your preference, and there are a lot of things to look at."

"Are there any humans on Orchidia, Lugum?"

She gaped at the pikachu. "A _human?" _Lugum remembered hearing a very ancient account, given by a heroic pokémon who himself was once a human. They had two legs, hair only in certain places and could build all sorts of marvels that a pokémon wouldn't really care for. If they wanted to be an electric type they made a device for it, and the same went for water and even fire. They were a symbol of adaptation, nowadays. "Not for the last 320 years, no."

This information put a lost, confused look on his face. "Whelp. Here I am lost in a strange place with no possessions and no memory of why... I have a feeling that shit like this is typical for me."

_Possessions._ Lugum began to take a deep breath, which started slow and eventually turned into a ragged whine. "My rock," she choked out, "I never got my special rock back. Oh Arceus..." she instinctively huddled down and protected her sides and head. She never knew exactly why she did this, but it helped her deal with stressful situations.

She felt a paw on her shoulder. "Yikes, must be a hell of a rock."

"It's mine," she wheezed, "and I need it. I need it very badly." Remembering that day where she woke up by the river was so much easier when this feeling wasn't there. Everything was rending apart in her world, without that rock. It was important, _essential._ "Please," she begged, "help me. I want my rock back."

Suddenly, there was a bout of cruel laughing coming from behind her. She slowly uncurled herself, standing up to see who it was.

A zubat and a koffing taunted her with their gleeful glances. And held purposefully out so that she could see, was her rock. The koffing gave a sharp cackle. The zubat flew a bit closer, so that she could get a better look.

"Looking for this?" He asked.


	4. Slamming

"I'd never seen a pokémon we looted come back to life," the koffing bragged. "We couldn't miss the chance to cover some new and exciting ground." Lugum stared at the two thieves, not able to believe what she was hearing. They had stolen her rock and left her out in the storm. Who did something like that? "We really 'took it over your dead body'! Haha!"

It was easy to tell that, while the bandits probably preferred their victims to be like Lugum, they had done their fair share of stealing from those who could fight back. They were extremely dangerous. Regardless, Lugum wanted her rock back. "T-that's... mine," she said, pointing at the decorated stone. The lavish red patterns shined in the sun, and the complimentary blue symbols sparkled.

They sat silently for a moment, and then laughed furiously at the riolu. "No shit!" The koffing cried. "You're not getting it back; finders keepers, loser weepers." The poisonous orb cackled at its own immature comments.

Lugum tried to stand tall against those harrassing her. "I will tell on you!" She said it confidently, but it came out just as silly as the koffing's response. "Give it back or I'll hire a guild member to apprehend you."

The zubat looked to the koffing, concerned about her threat. "Relax, Zube. If she goes to tell, they'll be a little occupied with other matters." Of course. She couldn't just walk into a guild, or maybe into town right now. By the time she got out of the repercussions, the two could be towns away. "So, we just wanted to say hello. We promise that your rock will sell fantastically, thief's honor." Lugum looked helplessly on as her rock slowly floated out of her grasp.

Ago had remained silent during this exchange, but finally spoke up as the two bandits turned to leave. "Hey! Wait a minute!" He called after them. They seemed surprised, nearly shocked, that they had just been told what to do. They eyed the pikachu curiously.

"Oh," Zube said with disdain, "I thought we were being kind by leaving you alone, but I guess it came off as rude. Go ahead, little guy, what's the problem?"

The pikachu didn't step down. "Uh, look. She's flipping her shit because you took that rock. It's seriously not funny; you need to give it back before she does something stupid." Lugum shifted, embarrassed by all the course of actions going through her head. Many of them _were_ ridiculous. But why did it sound like Ago meant it in such a threatening way? She heated up with shame. The pikachu, not knowing who she was, wanted her to fight it out with the two criminals.

A bout of _tsk tsk tsk_ came from the two pokémon. "You must be new here," koffing guessed, "or else you would know that Lugum doesn't really do much of anything. Buys some furniture, works a small restaurant, and occasionally has some breakdown trying to join a guild. She's so boring that it has become interesting to talk about her."

Zube gave an unsure glance at the Lugum, and then to koffing. "I don't know, Choke, look at her... I'm sure the rock wouldn't sell for that much anyway." Lugum wondered how she looked right then; she felt insanely desperate, but not as panicked as when she thought it was gone forever.

The koffing refused to heed his friend's advice. "Zube, she isn't going to do anything. Watch this." Choke slowly flew closer and closer to Lugum, who walked slowly backwards. Eventually she ran out of space, and was soon leaning back against the rock. "Come on, Lugum, get a free swat in on me." She closed her eyes and turned her head away as the koffing hovered inches away from her face.

Ago tried to give Lugum encouragement from the side. "Lugum, hit him already! Show him what you're made of!"

"I c-can't!" She whimpered.

"Do you want your rock back or not?"

"I do, but-"

"Then go!"

"N-n-no! I'm scared!" She admitted. The koffing laughed victoriously.

The pikachu couldn't take Lugum's passivity any longer. "Fuck it, I'll do it for you!" The noise of kicked-up-sand came to Lugum as Ago ran forward to claw at the koffing.

Zube reacted quickly. "Hey, you! Butt out!" Slamming his wings in front of him, the zubat created a gale of gust the flew forward at a crippling speed. Lugum opened her eyes soon enough to see the charging pikachu fly into the side of the rock, twisting and bouncing away. The sickening smack and crunching sand rang in Lugum's ears like a war gong.

She dropped down to her knees and crawled under the koffing, using the rock as a way to kick through quickly. When Choke attempted to pin her down, she gave a quick backwards kick, shooting the koffing like a marble into hard stone. Zube probably didn't intend to hurt the pikachu- it was a bad angle that sent him into the rock before touching down on the soft sand- and he tried desperately to placate the riolu. "Whoa, whoa, relax!" He pleaded shrilly.

When he realized that there was no stopping her with words, he dropped the rock and attempted to fly away. Lugum changed priorities immediately, opting to ensure the safety of her prized possession. She tumbled, grabbed the rock, and ended in a standing position in seconds, leaving her enough time to quickly pelt the zubat with the red-and-blue rock.

The more level-headed of the two became enraged at the pain, twisting mid flight so that he could strike at Lugum. When Lugum tip-toed her way out his tackle, Choke followed up, smacking her back and sending her into the sand. Zube stopped his charge and started another one as the riolu tried to stand, hitting her in the side and ruining her attempts.

Scared of the upcoming flurry of attacks, Lugum quickly ducked into her ball, which was more warranted than ever before. Again and again the two bandits bashed into her, knocking her about. She waited through the pain, until she could finally feel their attacks transform into reckless rage.

When Zube attempted to continue his onslaught with a strike from his wing, Lugum suddenly uncurled and caught him. Using his own momentum, Lugum spun the zubat and worked a full hold over the wing. Around and around they spun, Lugum's pointed stance making small holes in the sand. With devastating force, Lugum gave a fierce yell and slammed her attacker down. Her mind, wrapped in battle, was wrenched away by a jarring feeling in her arms.

His horrifying cry was followed with shocked silence, other than his subsequent sobs. Lugum had accidentally smacked his left wing into the rock, which became unfurled while she was spinning him with his right. Now it was dislocated, and the bones inside fractured. She backed away, covering her mouth in horror. When had they gotten so close to that rock? Even worse: What if they had been a half a foot to the left? She almost murdered this zubat...

Ago stumbled up to the scene as the koffing tried to assist his partner in crime. A empathetic groan was all it got out of him, and he rested a paw on Lugum's shoulder. "Okay, just calm down. They knew it was dangerous. It's not your fault that you hurt one of them by fighting back... someone was due to do it. Uh, let's just get your rock and leave, okay?"

Instead of leaving, however, Lugum walked over to Zube and Choke. The koffing hovered up and beyond her range, and the zubat scuttled up against that brutal rock, terrified of the riolu. "Please, we don't want anymore trouble!" He begged. "We're sorry! T-take the stupid rock and go- I'll never fly again, because of you. T-that's enough revenge, right?" It was basically true; the koffing had no limbs in which to give aid, or to carry his friend. They would be stuck here until help arrived.

"Be quiet," she insisted quietly. "I'm going to straighten it out, okay?" She didn't wait for the zubat to volunteer himself. She softly put him down on his stomach, and without an ounce of warning snapped the zig-zagging win into one straight piece again. She had never done something like this, but she had seen it done in the dojo a few times, when a sparring match got too violent.

She lifted Zube onto his feet, who was heaving in order to deal with the crippling pain. He wrapped his good wing around Choke, who could at least be used for support. "Leave now, please," Lugum whispered. "I'm in enough trouble as it is." She didn't even stay to see if they listened- she felt sick and wanted her rock. Grabbing it from where it fell, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Are you okay?" Ago asked. Even though the answer was too confusing, she appreciated that he had put off his own troubles for her. Physically, the only wound worth noting was a bad cut on the side of her head. A quick wipe showed that blood was once against streaking down the side of her face. How unlucky could she get?

"Uh, it feels finer than it looks. Are you okay?" She returned.

"Yeah, the rock didn't really do too much. This body is pretty damn resilient."

She gave him a quaint look. "Are you normally not a pikachu?"

"Are you normally not alive?"

That stopped Lugum right in her tracks. "Well played." They both gave a short laugh. It felt good to laugh with somebody else, even it was about something pretty weird.

"Don't you see, though, that if you had just pulled off those moves a bit earlier, I wouldn't have a sore back? I can't believe the beating you took, Lu. They must have been striking you for at least a couple minutes. That's pretty neat."

"Wait, what did you just call me?"

He shrugged. "Lu. Short for 'Lugum'. Do you not like it or something?"

She gave the pikachu a serious and invested look-over. Maybe the water pokémon had blessed her after all. "No no no," she said quickly, giving an excited laugh, "don't worry about it! Haha, I think that name is just perfect!"

The sudden excitement wasn't missed by Ago. "Wow, you got peppy as hell all of a sudden," he said, giving a small grin.

"I'm just really happy that-"

"Uh-huh. Why don't you just tell me what you want?"

She lurched forward as her heart stopped for a second. When was the last time she even said she wanted something, other than 'I want to buy this chair' or 'I want my rock back'? Breathing in deeply, she replied, "well, I was just thinking about how confused you are. If you needed a place to stay, you can stay with me... and I can show you around and make sure you know where everything is here... and maybe help you figure out who you are..."

He waved his hand in a small circle, urging her forward. "And in return, I, Lu, want you to..."

"_Cease all actions immediately and do not provide resistance!__"_ A shrill voice cried out from the path. A panicking chatot flapped his wings violently, dashing up to the pair. "Y-you!" He shouted at Lugum. "Now just where do you think you are going? It is bad enough that you ran off without telling _anyone_ that you are just perfect... but then you go and harass random beach-goers? You and whoever your little friend is better come with me right now, missie, or you'll be in huge trouble! It is so unbelievable that you conducted yourself in this way, I would be ashamed to act like you have..."

Ago gave a subtle eye roll that expressed that he knew exactly what Lugum wanted. The riolu glanced out at the waves one more time before turning to walk back to the Wigglytuff Guild. Her stomach felt sick with nervousness, but she felt more than ever, and this time without the assistance of a storm, that this was going to work out just fine.


	5. Entering

If any further validation of what transpired last night was needed, Lugum felt it sorely when she looked at the metal grate. Although her mind seemed oblivious to its lethal threat, and more focused on its usual dislike of the grate, her body nearly shook with trepidation. "It won't fly up again, right?" She was obligated to ask. She held her special rock tightly, and felt embarrassed; she was like a child with their special toy.

"We are planning to bolt it down later today, once more important processions have been handled," Chatot replied. He was still a little furrowed but the worst of his aggravation had already been taken out, apparently. After his rage, the Commanding Officer seemed very willing to accommodate them. "You must be horrified of the thing, however. No worries, you don't have to step on it this time, since you are with me."

Lugum was at first busy wondering what could be important than something that was killing potential guests, but at the words 'this time' she snapped out of her daze immediately. What in the world did that mean? Just as exciting was the fact that she was entering the guild. Regardless of the reason, Lugum couldn't believe that she was circumventing the source of her nervousness so easily.

The bird hopped quickly over to the grate. After standing on it for a few seconds, a scary echo rose out of the lookout cave like smoke. It was a blessing that the cave existed, or else one could hear him barking out questions across the whole town. Now, it was practically impossible to hear him a few feet away. Whatever Sonder was saying to Chatot, however, caused the bird to fly up and screech down the grate.

"_Those who break a rule for the ultimate benefit of his or her cultivated society should be respected for their intelligence, not for their hypocrisy!" _He took a few deep breaths and landed back down on the grate. "Sonder, friend, please... open the gate..." He bent down low and started muttering.

Lugum felt a few taps on her shoulder. She looked back to see Ago smiling at her. "Does everyone in this town get pissed at the drop of a hat?"

"Stop," she chastised, "he's the Commanding Officer of the Wigglytuff Guild. If he finds out that you think of him as silly, he can make you very miserable.

As if on the cue, Chatot snapped back at them. "Hey you, pikachu! I need you to get over here."

"Why?"

Chatot gasped, but then gave the pikachu a second look-over. "I've been a little busy, my apologies. How quaint it is to see a pikachu all the way down here! Tell me, what brings you down to the coast?"

A few seconds passed by before Ago finally responded. "Oh. Uh, you know... er... stuff like this?"

"Oh, exploring? How exciting that must be for you. Do you have previous experience?"

Lugum stood agape at the two. Was he getting interviewed? Why was it never this easy for her? "Well, no," Ago answered honestly, "neither with fighting or exploring. Sorry if I, uh, lead you into thinking that I did."

The chatot sighed, as if the conversation was uplifting. "It feels very good to hear such politeness... if you are ever looking for a recommendation, or a job, you're welcome to come and apply as my assistant." Lugum stared daggers at the pikachu, as if it was his fault the chatot had such a random interest in him. "Anyway, I need you to be identified. Scout has never seen a pikachu before." Scout worked at the very bottom of the grate, while loudred worked near the gate mechanism. The only way they could hear each other was by yelling, and Sonder always made sure he yelled harshly if it was a riolu trying to get in.

Ago walked up to the grate and stood still, shifting his eyes about as if he considered the process mundane. Only Lugum knew that he was very nervous. After a few seconds of distorted mumbling from the lookout cave, the gate finally opened. "Come on, Lugum," Chatot commanded. The gate was open, and it was for her. She slowly made her way through, and stepped on the yellow wooden steps leading into the guild.

Because she had never been inside, Lugum never realized that the Wigglytuff Guild was really a tower built into the cliff. Treasure Town was on a small spike jutting out from the continent, and had the marveling geography of being surrounding on two sides by water. Most guilds had chosen it as the place for home base because it was an easy place to set out from, and an easy place to get back to. One only had to keep going West until they reached the sliver of land the town rested upon.

The first basement level of the guild was a half circle adorned with bounty boards, mailboxes and other faculties that made up the business part of an exploration guild. Typically, if a guild was not exploring, they were out rescuing. Once, it had been the other way around, and a long time ago pokémon could do both at once.

Since it was the middle of the day, most guild members were likely out on duties. Only the sentries in the lookout cave willingly stayed in base. Chatot hopped towards a door with the small shape of an oran berry carved into its wood. "This is the office of our resident medic, Asabi. She is going to make sure that you are alright, Lugum, and see if there are any... er... post-mortem stresses."

"What do I do?" Ago asked.

"Come with me. I'll take you on a tour."

The pikachu looked back to see the most quietly furious riolu in all of Orchidia. She was getting a check-up, and he was getting closer and closer to fulfilling her dream! It really dulled the intense feelings of accomplishment and closure she got by entering the Wigglytuff Guild for the first time. "Uh," Ago said, more than a little knowledgeable of methods Lugum could take out her anger, "is that alright with you?"

The chatot waited patiently as Lugum made sure that she could speak nicely to the two. It wouldn't do her good to be moody and jealous, especially after reaching such a huge milestone in her ambitions. This visit would be her first impression, ever, to the Wigglytuff Guild. Besides that, she should be happy for Ago. "Go ahead. Have fun!"

It was the right thing to say, because the Commanding Officer appeared pleased. "Very well," he chirped. He quickly unfurled his wing, hopped forward, and tapped the door three times. Without seeing if the door opened, Chatot used the same wing to corral the pikachu towards the stairs. "Say," she heard the Commanding Officer say as they went off, "how did you and Lugum meet anyway?"

Her heart leaped into her throat for a second, but she forced herself to relax. If there was any one person she wanted to trust right now, it would be him. The door with the oran berry flung open a short second later, and a peppy chimecho hovered in between the doorway. "Ah!" The medic, Asabi, cried with a little too much zeal for Lugum to be comfortable with. "Come right in!"

Lugum shuffled forward and sat on a long, flat counter. It was made of very cold rock. "So, how are we today?" Asabi asked.

"You're the doctor, you tell me," Lugum mumbled. There seemed to be no way to sit nicely on the counter.

Asabi laughed gently. "Yes I am. Well, I can tell you right now that you are very clumsy."

"Excuse me?"

"Look at your head! Most pokémon would take a brief break if they were in your situation, but it looks like you've been out and about, getting into tussles..."

The chimecho was speaking of her head wound from the fight on the beach- she hadn't the time to wash it off! "Oh, oh no... I tripped is all." That wasn't going to worked on a pokémon experienced in what a trip looks like, and what a fight looks like.

She sighed, but it wasn't accusatory. The fact that the medic didn't become angry at her for lying comforted her. "Poor thing... the ground doesn't beat you senseless after you tripped on it. I mean, your escapade in the night helps excuse some of it, but you've been in a fresh mess. What happened dear?" Lugum stayed quiet, desiring nothing more than to escape from the room. "I promise," Asabi said soothingly, "I won't tell a soul."

No longer shining in the sun, the rock took on a more subtle appearance. "I won't tell a soul about what fight you got into," Asabi said, "but I'm sorry to tell you that I am obligated to my guild that you have refused to tell me. If you're in trouble, Lugum, it's best if you come out with it."

Left with no choice, Lugum had to tell her. "Well, after the grate... well..."

"We'll get to that later."

"Okay. Well, some bandits took this rock, which is really important to me." She held it up for Asabi, who gave a small smile. "And, well, they were harassing me, and they accidentally hurt Ago so I attacked them."

"You just, jumped in?" The chimecho asked, her curiosity peaked. "Did you win the fight?"

"I got my rock back," Lugum answered, hoping that the medic would insinuate all the details from her simple answer.

"That's very good to hear. I hate bandits. What I meant is, though, did you fight well?"

That wasn't really something Lugum cared to think about. Once she did, however, she felt really ashamed. "Arceus, no... I fought like some kind of common brawler- ah! What are you doing?" A weird tingling feeling took over her body, and she could see a psychic aura coming from Asabi. Resisting was a bad idea, and Lugum knew that no harm would come to her.

Asabi toned down the investigation a bit, however, and then suddenly stopped. Lugum jumped when Asabi cried out in pain. "Wow..." she breathed. "What does a riolu do with their free time?"

"In general?" Lugum asked her, "or just me?"

"Uh, sorry. You."

That was a fairly simple question. "When I'm not working, I teach self-defense at the dojo... there is only one student in my class though. It makes me a little upset to see-" Lugum stopped herself. Asabi was a medic, not a therapist. "Other than classes... I run, buy furniture, go to the Spinda Café, attempt to join a guild... eat... sleep... yeah, that's about it."

The chimecho nodded, but still looked confused. "You are insanely resilient. At a glance, I could tell that you are a little callous, but when I used empathy-"

"Empathy?" Lugum wondered out loud.

"It's how I got this job," Asabi told her distractedly. "Most explorers are pretty stupid, and it takes me feeling what they're bodies have been through just to figure out what actually got injured. I did this to you, just to see if I could see what happened to you last night..." She mused on what she had felt before she told Lugum. "You definitely died, but it was just bad luck."

That didn't seem very surprising. "Yeah, I would call it that."

Asabi blinked a few times before snapping out of her stupor. "Oh! I mean, you should have survived, I think. You tried to block the grate, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you did block it. It came at you like a disc, and you stopped it with your forearms. You would have just gone home with some sore arms, but the wind flipped the grate and it collided with your head. and then you tripped and fell down the hill."

It was strange to think how close she had been to just going on with her life.

Asabi smiled. "You stopped a 300 pound grate in its path. You should feel very proud."

Lugum shifted uncomfortably under the compliment. "I still don't know," Asabi admittedly sadly, "how you seemed to have recovered from the incident, but I'm sure some details will come to you eventually. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I have to go and speak with Chatot."

Once Asabi left the room, Lugum removed herself from the freezing stone. She paced about the room nervously. The details of last night and today made her so confused. Gradually, however, Lugum found some confidence in her brief check-up with the medic. She had hardly even investigated her body, besides to obtain some information about last night. It also had felt really good to get the fight off of her chest.

After a few minutes of pacing, Asabi finally returned with Chatot and Ago. "Hello, Lugum!" The Commanding Officer said. "Asabi says that you are just fine. Also, I would like to once again apologize for yelling at you on the beach." Lugum eyed the chatot suspiciously; he definitely seemed happier to have Lugum here after the check-up.

She gave a quick, concerned glance at Ago, trying to ask him _what did you tell him?_ using her eyes. The pikachu only shrugged and smiled obnoxiously. Chatot came close to her, animated with content.

Then he said something that Lugum never thought she would hear: "Lugum, how would you like to meet Guild Leader Wigglytuff?"


	6. Exiting

The first thing Lugum would ever hear from behind the guild leader's door was someone furiously shouting _bullshit_. It seemed to upset Chatot more than it did the riolu, which was a feat within itself. "What...?" Lugum mumbled. An offer like the one the Commanding Officer gave to her had put her into shock. All of this was so far out of Lugum's comfort zone it hurt.

"Ahah, just a minor ch-chink in our pokémon resources, I'm sure..." Chatot steeled himself and knocked on the door. "Guild Master Wigglytuff, I h-have our guests- squawk!" The door exploded into tiny pieces of wooden shrapnel as a green object smashed into it. Lugum immediately turned and threw herself on top of Ago. The wooden tables at her job gave her splinters sometimes, and those weren't too bad- what could be so painful about having many at once? But the shrapnel should have been the least of her worries; a shrill pitch sounded from inside the room, and the cacophony racked Lugum's head.

When the ringing in her ears finally left, she slowly opened her eyes. Ago looked like he was okay, if only a tad disoriented and angry. When a string of curses started coming from the pikachu, the riolu got up and looked about. A green lump laid in the middle of the cave, and he was bleeding pretty badly. Lugum assumed that the lump, a grovyle, was what burst open the door. When his wounds began to pool gruesomely, Lugum finally decided to respond. She shook him, saying "hey, are you alright? Hello?"

"Get... the fuck off of me!" The grovyle sprung to his feet at a speed Lugum had never seen before, smacking her right in her muzzle. The strike snapped her head up so hard that she couldn't lower it. It brought forth more ringing in her ears, and put her off balance, but she ended up only staring at the grovyle, a paw holding her muzzle. The sting was more emotional than physical. What did she do wrong?

"Hey!" Ago shouted. "What in hell is wrong with you? She just wanted to help, you prick. Don't be so damned belligerent." Why had a guild member hit her? Lugum looked down, ashamed that she was doing something wrong. Tears began to form around the edges of her eyes. "No, Lugum," Ago implored, "don't gratify him by crying. Get your chin up.

The attacker only stood there in deep thought. He breathed raggedly and his body was covered with scratches. Finally, he gave a short laugh. "Hah. Didn't think you'd be left standing." Chatot slowly hobbled out of the Guild Master's room, but remained silent as the grovyle looked over the pair. "Thing is, little girl, I don't need your help. That goes for you as well, pikachu."

Lugum kept her eyes on the ground. "I'm s-sorry..."

"Arceus, Lugum, he hit you! Don't say sorry!" Her emotions were all out of sorts, however, and she only continued to apologize profusely as Chatot tried to reprimand the door-breaking grovyle. After a few more apologies, Ago had finally had enough. "You're being so annoying Lu! Stop being such a little bitch! Hit her again, go ahead, see if I care."

"How could you say _that?!"_ Lugum stammered, appalled.

Instead of hitting her again, the grass-type pointed at Ago. "Hey! You just fed me some bullshit about not being violent, and now you want me to hit your friend? I bet you guys are next up for an exploration team, huh? Well that's all everyone is here- a fucking hypocrite- so you'll _fit right in!" _The pikachu jumped at the grovyle, which would have been suicidal if there had not been a handicap favoring Ago. They tumbled about in a pile as Lugum tried to wrap her head around being called names and Chatot squawked and jumped about telling them to _stop this instant_.

"Enough friends," a polite, quiet voice said from behind them, "or I'll have to raise my voice again." Lugum gaped at Wigglytuff the Guild Master, who was gently smiling at the mess they had made. At least one of the two tussling pokémon knew what a raise in his voice meant; the grovyle threw the pikachu off of him and hobbled up to his feet, and put his bladed paws out pleadingly.

"All that earlier... that was just raising your voice?" Lugum whispered. It was such a stupid first thing to say to the Guild Master, but he only laughed.

"Seeing as how the grovyle is still awake, I would say I didn't raise it enough!" The wigglytuff spoke so innocently that Lugum became horrified. Was awake just a euphemism? Did she intend to kill him? "I thought that it would be good for him to rest and take time to think about things, because good friends always give other friends a break. Right, pikachu?"

He got back up with a groan. Even as injured at the grovyle was, it was obvious he had completely lost their wrestling match. "I'm not following."

Wigglytuff pointed at Lugum. "So, friend... they say you got very hurt last night?"

"Yes."

"And that you woke up next morning very confused, and had to get into a fight?"

"Y-wait, what? oh no... Asabi said she wouldn't tell anybody..."

"I'm not just anybody, friend. I'm Guild Master, and I decree that you have had a very poor day."

Ago's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I get it... really brilliant. Very subtle."

More giggles. "I'm not suggesting anything! I don't like to tell others what to do, silly! Especially if it will make them hurt others."

"I- well... fuck. Sorry." He shrugged. "My bad Lu. You were just really getting on my nerves. Why didn't you hit this jerk back?"

"She didn't hit him," Wigglytuff explained, "because I think she doesn't like to hit things when she gets nothing out of it." That was, Lugum found, remarkably true. She didn't expect the Guild Master to be so subtle and manipulative- it was strange to think that such a strategy put him and his guild at the top. Then again, there was his hyper voice... it really confused walking softly and carrying a big stick. She nodded meekly. "What do you say, Lugum? Would you like to have a reason to hit stuff?"

Chatot and the grovyle seemed to have left- or the bird was escorting the pokémon out of the guild. She got an eerie feeling for a split second, like she was about to step into whatever the freakishly fast and tough grovyle did at the guild. No matter how Wigglytuff put it, Lugum felt deep down that they weren't giving her a job that was completely related to 'exploration'.

Nonetheless, she nodded quickly, hoping that what she started is better than what she had.


	7. Walking

When Wigglytuff only nodded at Lugum's response and told Chatot to escort them out of the guild, the riolu grappled with what the question even signified to the Guild Leader. Was it a way to imply that they wanted her on board, or a simple gauge of her determination to find a reason for violence? Whatever one it was, Lugum left the Wigglytuff Guild with more progress made than three years of embarrassing cowardice.

Most of this progress was born out of her eerie situation with the grate, but there were those parts that only Ago had inspired. Without him, Chatot would have found her panicking and sobbing about a decorated rock, or, in the worst-case scenario, killed again because she tried to take it back. As they walked through the main village center, and towards the coast, she watched as he looked around with curiosity.

"So, this was all done by pokémon, huh? How did you guys manage it?" He asked. "Some of you don't have arms, or you float, or you're simply too big for these kinds of places. How do you regulate it all- better yet, what tools do you use-"

"Stop, please!" Lugum pleaded, rubbing her paws together nervously. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"You keep speaking like I'm on thing and you're another. 'You' and 'you guys'... you're scaring me!" This silenced him. Ago looked down at himself with what Lugum saw a renewed expression of confusion and fear. Suddenly, a claw flashed up towards Lugum, and Ago appeared as if he wanted to explain, but both the appearance and the claw dropped an instant later. The hard-working merchants who hadn't closed up for the afternoon only saw the pikachu pat his side, but Lugum felt slighted.

In Treasure Town, the home a family lived in spoke a lot about their status. Usually, the more thematically related the building is to your species, the higher up in the social circles you are. Those who weren't quite at the top settled for a home with motifs based on the environment they favored. Above them, at the tip top, well-off and famous pokémon tried to embody themselves as legendary by making a part of their home- the roof or the door, usually- look like them.

As for building these structures, that was a mystery for the interior explorers. Certain guilds focused solely on figuring out how different species of pokémon live. From their daily habits, how they have fun in their spare time, how they gather food, how the build... whether or not they are embezzling money at their job, whether or not they are hiding a feral pokémon in their house as a pet... 'interior interrogators' was a name that suited them far better. Lugum realized that this would probably help Ago feel a little less confused, so she threw it all out there. Pokémon lazing about the street looked back curiously as she explained the obvious.

The part that gripped Ago the most was the feral pokémon. "Wait, whoa, give me a minute." He took a minute, looking down at his claws as if he wanted to solve this like a math problem. "So some pokémon take these ferals- pokémon without sentience- and domesticate them? That's fucking twisted, Lu."

She nodded excitedly, happy that Ago agreed. The passion helped her get over the nervousness of talking to the pikachu. "And that's not the worst part, though," Lugum said angrily. "These tamers don't want to domesticate them... their goal is to get them as violent and strong as possible. And when the ferals are all ready, they have underground rings where they fight in battles."

"...What?"

"They say that some rings have _six on six_ battles. That's twelve ferals being tortured and forced to fight in an arena. And since they are trained... a single break-out could mean death for many townsfolk. My boss, a mightyena, lost both of his parents when a seviper got loose a few years ago."

Ago stopped, and stared straight forward. His arms shivered for a second. "Do... do you know where this 'crime' came from?"

Instantly, Lugum felt like something about the rings interested him personally. "Wait, why do you want to know?" Then, the way he had said 'crime' took precedence. She stopped too, but couldn't bother to turn around. "You... you don't think that battling them is a crime, do you? But... but you thought it was twisted before."

He walked forward slowly. "W-where I'm from a long time ago, Lugum, I think that it had more meaning."

"Where are you from that is like that?" Lugum asked quietly. "Where are you from that likes to take someone that they find too stupid to object and make them fight all of your battles? Do you think it is fun, to be manipulated because you can't catch up as fast as others?" She had never known she felt so strongly about something like this, that this feeling of frustration would ever come to her. It was like her outburst towards the krabby, except more _right_.

"The Wigglytuff Guild," she began to deduce in a low hiss, "is no different from wherever you came from and the tamers here. No other value of mine ever got through their gate, but me surviving my own stupidity made it so they probably couldn't take their eyes off of me. And, even so I know that their intentions are based only on what happened last night... I'm going to accept whatever offer they give me. A stupid fool like me has to find some way to explore... is this the kind of thinking that gives your town's taming extra _meaning_? Well?"

Ago did not summon any cuss words or yell out _quit trying to guilt-trip me! _this time. When Lugum saw that he had nothing else to do other than mope, she started to walk again. When Lugum finally put her eyes on the trail, she caught sight of the grovyle Wigglytuff and themselves argued with. Something stirred inside of Lugum as the grovyle limped forward. This wasn't to get anywhere, Lugum surmised; the grovyle's only goal seemed to be to drown out the shame of being fired with distance.

It wasn't hard to catch up to him. "There is so much pathway to go around," he muttered without even turning to see who was behind him, "why can't you use the other parts?"

"Why are we getting near this asshole?" Ago whispered. The pikachu, smart enough to see that Lugum ended all conversation on the taming, replaced it with complaints about the grovyle. "Lu, we need to back up before he tries something."

The grovyle twisted his head around to catch a glimpse of the pikachu and riolu. "Oh, it's you two. Even better, I suppose. If the guild members ask them about me, tell them I drank myself to death, or however you say it." He gave it a little more thought, and then sighed. "Damn, the hardest part about doing that is that I'll get too drunk to remember that I'm supposed to keep drinking. Plus, I don't even know if it's possible- where's a fucking interior explorer when you- _ack!" _

He angrily twisted about as Lugum attempted to prop him up. "Come on," she insisted nervously, "t-that's not a good route of action. You can stay at my place until you find another place to work."

"_Why?!_" Ago and the grovyle shouted out in unison.

"Lugum, are you starting a home for the lost and confused or something? What is this all about?"

"Why do you think I'd want your pity, girl? Submitting me to torture from this hypocritical little rat isn't helping me!"

Lugum tried to stay calm as they yelled at her, waiting patiently for them to give her a chance to speak. When it was obvious that an opportunity would not arise, she spoke anyways. "You're... you're the one who I am probably replacing. And I am not so stupid to the point that I think it's a normal job. I want to know why they let you in... I want to know why they might let me in... for this position. So, if it isn't too much trouble..."

"Daté. The 'e' sounds like an 'ay'. Say it incorrectly and I will kill you wherever you are standing when you say it. I am only responsible enough to respect one thing at a time, and since it looks like my body and my social standing are out of the question, my name is my last line of honor." Even so it made him wince, Daté threw his arms over his head. "You know, when you put it like that, I'm a little glad you asked. It isn't my forté or even something I'm interested in doing, but saving your life could be exactly what I need to feel good after this. Arceus should be fine with me being... f-fine..."

The two of them leaped away in surprise as Daté fell over. Lugum and Ago watched as the grovyle grimaced weakly, trying to slowly crawl back up to his feet, and eventually falling down unconscious. All that came afterwards was a scoff by Ago. "Lugum, he's obviously desperate to con you."

She turned to look at the pikachu. "What makes you say that?"

"The extent of his injuries are bad, so he- as a skilled guild member or whatever- should have known that trying to go somewhere was a bad idea, right? My bet is that, after he realized that he was going to go out cold, he decided to walk down the path until he did so. He knew we were most likely leaving soon, so he gambled that you would find him and take him home." When Lugum shook her head, Ago gave her a scowl. "What the hell? I'm trying to stop you from getting abused after all of your bitching about it, and then you fall right into this guy's con? Why?!"

The nervous riolu gave a small giggle. For some reason, the longer she stayed around Ago the stronger she felt. "It doesn't matter how much I want to be independed," she explained, "I can't just leave him on the side of the road."

"Sure you can."

"Be quiet and help me lift him up. Watch his blades." With the help of the pikachu, they were able to lift the grovyle onto their backs. He was lighter than Lugum expected.

"He smells like booze," Ago complained. "What kind of upstanding 'guild' lets someone like this in?"

"A good question," Lugum replied. As they took Daté to Sharpedo Bluff, her home, answering that question was the only goal on her mind.


	8. Arresting

The Raging Gyrados was an up-and-coming meeting place for guild members. Frequently the taxation the violent place could have on one's body was huge, so explorers who actually went there rested most of the afternoon so that they could give social actions their all. That meant, since the sun had only just began to set, the bar was relatively empty and uneventful. Only a row of pokémon, most likely back early from a successful task or taking the day off, sat at the front counter. A grunting cranidos, a silent pidgeotto, a tipsy bellsprout and a disgruntled drilbur sat side by side and partook in boring conversation.

"So, ideally, exploration guild members should either be out there earning their namesake, or at the very least helping pokémon out with their martial abilities they learned from exclusive guild teachings," the pidgeotto suddenly said in a disinterested tone. The moment he spoke, the other pokémon in attendance stared at him so hard their eyes seemed bolted to the bird.

They all knew what the condescending tone and overly-studious way of speaking meant: the pidgeotto was an interior explorer. Places like the Raging Gyrados made conversation out of what they would do to the 'scrawny fuckers' who stumbled around their personal lives. The pidgeotto kept his eyes locked on the counter, as if they had shocked him into keeping his head down, but the interior explorer looked far too distracted.

At the same instant the guild members decided to leave him alone, he started again. "It is my firm belief that I must study why this seems to not be the case with select guild pokémon who come here early in the afternoon. Some- like those at the Raging Gyrados- are content with sitting on their ass. No, no... that idiomatic phrase does not work since some species of our kind do not have... well, you know what I mean. Let's try this then: all the pokémon at the Raging Gyrados at this time of day... are lazy fucks."

It was like the pidgeotto signed his own death warrant. Even the tipsy, almost-innocent bellsprout tore itself out of a stupor so that it could glare at the bird. "I have decided," the pidgeotto continued, "to start my research this afternoon, at the raging..." he finally gave a lazed look about his surroundings. "Huh. Would you look at that- I am already here. Uh, you, cranidos breathing down my neck. I require you to give me a full account of why you are too lazy to do your job."

Instead of answering that question, however, the cranidos leaned in even closer. The pidgeotto worried intensely for a second; the smell coming off of the pokémon's breath told him that this was a carnivorous guild member. It was accepted- they needed sustenance- but it had always been such a nasty idea to think of eating ferals. "I... will gnaw your wings to the bone... they will... never find the body," the carnivore hissed with agonizingly long pauses.

"Sorry, you took too long to threaten me and now I am bored of this plan of yours. Oh. That's not allowed, by the way."

The previously disgruntled drilbur leaned in close. The pidgeotto felt bad about having to be so rude to everyone in the Raging Gyrados, since it was obvious that at least the drilbur worked hard. Even as the mole told him in a hushed voice that he should go before trouble breaks out, he knew that he couldn't take his eyes off the prize. "I don't want anything destroyed in here. It would take forever to fix."

So that was where the bartender went. It made sense to sit down and enjoy the place you own between guild shifts. The cranidos breathed raggedly and had gotten to the point where the sheer face of the pidgeotto incited his carnal rage. This was his chance. "I am sorry to have professed such opinions. It is easy for me to lose track of my location, while rambling on about procedures and the such. Say, cranidos, how about we call it even with a free hit?"

An offer that made the cranidos grin with violent glee and the drilbur gape at the stupid bird. "Are you kidding?" The cranidos laughed cruelly, "I'll kill you with a single headbutt, you fucking busybody!"

"I hypothesize... that you cannot."

For a second the drilbur seemed adamant about stopping the pidgeotto, but the curiosity of seeing such a spectacle overtook him. "Move the tables aside first," he said in a tone both guilty and anxious. The bellsprout gave a small cry of excitement and helped the pidgeotto clear a runway that the cranidos may use to launch his full weight into him. The more tables they moved to the side, the more the pidgeotto wondered if there was a painless way of doing this.

Yes, but they were not convenient methods. Once all the tables were moved, the pidgeotto propped open the door, stood in front of it, and threw out his wings. He had kept them so tightly wrapped before, but once out their wingspan was abnormally long for a pokémon his size. It was an irony, since he wasn't able to fly.

The cranidos gave a manic laugh. "I am not one for rules, but I know that if you ask me to do something that could kill you, it isn't illegal. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this! Here comes your death, you shit-talking bird-brain!" With that, the cranidos flew into a furiously fast charge. It would never hit an agile pokémon, but that wasn't a factor- all he wanted was to build up as much momentum as he could in the small space he had.

The wind flew out of the pidgeotto as the hard, rounded head of the cranidos smashed into his chest. The little bastard had a total disregard for the drilbur's bar; he had angled himself at the last second so that only half of the bird's body would make it cleanly through the door. His body spun around and around as he bounced off of the door frame, and he finally slammed into the street outside a second later.

The three pokémon stared at the lump of feathers laying on the ground. "Ha!" The cranidos cried out triumphantly, "your debt is now repaid with your life, bastard!" For the next few, slow seconds, the bird did not give a condescending rejoinder. Splintered wood crumbled off the door frame.

But eventually it came as the bird got up to his talons, trembling all the while. "Why would you even consider murder as a proper way to resolve me saying something that you did not like?" A cheer came from the entertained bellsprout, and the drilbur gave a respectful grunt.

"Wow. You're pretty damned tough for an interior explorer," he complimented. At any other time the pidgeotto would enjoy the attention, but he had a far better feeling coming his way- success.

"Don't answer that, you cranidos," he said slowly. It hurt to speak, and felt like someone had sealed his lungs shut. "You killed your own exploration team member for a pecha scarf. You are a disgusting murderer who opts for the smallest excuse to kill without punishment. Guilds have no use for someone like you."

Previously victorious, the cranidos walked backwards with terror in his eyes. "W-what? Blunder was mugged by a lucky punk who took him on while he was exhausted! I d-didn't have anything to do with that!"

The pidgeotto turned a wing to his bruised chest. "Oh. Your guild hopefully will not mind when I show them that the bruise on my chest is the same exact one found on your dead teammate." A high-pitched whine came from the cranidos; he had been found out in a way he never even though imaginable. What kind of interior exploration member cared enough to gamble his life on catching a low-key killer?

"W-who the fuck are you?" The cranidos screamed. "What interior exploration guild are you with? This can't be real- you're not allowed to investigate p-pokémon like t-that. _What the fuck!"_ That feeling came to the pidgeotto finally- the gratification of seeing yet another invincible abuser of the guild system crumble.

His need to display the bruise far gone, the pidgeotto wrapped himself up tightly again. "Ferals in the mystery dungeons may be murderous towards us, but the sort like you who go out there for the sole purpose of hunting them like game deserve to be locked away. They have... lives as well." With that, he turned to the side and began to limp away. "My name is Flightly, and I do not belong to an interior exploration guild. I did this all because I do not like you. I also did it for fun. Expect the authorities to be here soon."

After a few painful limps, a blue, winged pokémon leaped out of the alley to his right and started to prop him up. "What the hell was that?" The zubat asked, terrified, "you could have died! You let that guy hit you on purpose, didn't you? You could be internally bleeding, or have broken the bone-cage around your lungs-"

"Have you been to the hospital recently, Zube?" Flightly gave a good look at Zube's splinted wing. "I know the splint makes it obvious, but you also always come out of there thinking you are a medical expert."

Zube smiled, relieved. If Flightly didn't care about his injuries, then the zubat trusted that they were fine. 'Fine' meant something drastically different for Flightly, however; only two prerequisites need to check out before the pidgeotto disregarded his condition: it didn't kill him and it didn't stop him from fulfilling his plans. "I love overhearing the conversations going on. It makes me feel like I can save the world." He suddenly became very downcast. "Flightly... I've decided not to hang out with Choke anymore. He told me we were going to mess with this riolu, but it ended up being so terrible... he promised not to get me involved in stuff like that!"

The two jerked to a halt as Flightly planted his talons into the ground. "What happened, Zube?"

It made him shaky to think about it, and Flightly knew immediately it wasn't good. "W-we closed in on the riolu and this pikachu she just saved, and started showing her the rock and stuff. Choke kept telling me before that she wouldn't do anything, so I kind of just assumed it was just playful thievery. I... I don't really like the idea of stealing anymore, but Choke is a childhood friend. I can't just ditch him."

"When we showed the rock to her, she became so distraught... she looked like that cranidos did when you told him your plan- like a cornered feral." That reminded Flightly that they _really_ need to go moving before the cranidos realized he could try and take them out. They started their slow limp again. And Choke got into her face, and the pikachu got pissed off about it, a-and I accidentally used gust and threw him into a rock."

"Is he okay?" Flightly asked.

"Yes. But the riolu started flipping out. She threw her rock at the back of my head and I got really upset... Choke and I... must have had her on the ground for two to three minutes, just tackling her. A-and, when I got _very_ reckless... s-she sprung up, grabbed me, and started spinning me around. She flung me down and slammed my wing into a rock. I t-thought I would never fly again- like you." Flightly winced at the stinging comparison, but knew it was a consequence of acting like he didn't care about stuff like that.

"That's hilarious," Flightly said as a passing comment. When Zube gaped at him and took offense, he gave a nervous laugh and patted him. "No, I mean, you said the riolu was fighting, but she really wasn't. Not consciously, that is. She was just struggling mindlessly- it's a thing riolu and lucario do when their personal feelings get in the way of their determination to attack or defend against something. The act that she almost whipped out a seismic toss-"

"_She was going to seismic toss me?!"_ The Zube shouted. "I-is that even possible?"

Flightly nodded. "You said she flung you down, but she was actually turning the momentum so she could leap into the air. You're lucky that rock was there, Zube, or you would be sleeping with a kabuto fossil right about now..." Flightly felt the same keen interest he had felt when he overheard the rumors about the cranidos. "Unbelievable... she is so well trained that even when she is mindlessly struggling for her life, she decides to attempt an advanced fighting move... please Zube, what else do you know about her?"

The zubat considered for a minute whether or not it was a good idea to tell him. He decided that it couldn't hurt the pidgeotto to know. "Choke said that he had obtained the rock from her dead body at the bottom of the hill."

"Before... before she fought you guys?"

"Yeah. Apparently she came back to life or something. Also, as we were going away I saw Chatot of the Wigglytuff guild flying towards them. I think that he took them to their headquarters."

There was really only one question left to ask. "Who reset your arm when you broke it?"

"...She did. She was really apologetic... I can't even be angry at her. It's like there is a force-field blocking my hate. It's annoying- the brat broke my wing..."

That settled it. He didn't know a lot about riolu or lucario- they lived in places too isolated for his liking- but he knew that this was a curious anomaly. What were the specific details behind her death and resurrection? How did she commit advanced moves to her subconscious memory from such a young age? Why would she feel so remorseful about hurting someone, to the point that she felt guilty about-

Flightly wrapped around Zube and threw themselves into the air as a cranidos flashed by under them. He tried to jump as well to accommodate for the height, but Flightly's leap brought them well near the rooftops of the nearby establishments. Without someone to collide into, the cranidos tumbled away. He skidded a few feet before getting his feet under him.

"B-bastard!" The cranidos screamed, "I won't let you live after shaming me! You'll die here and now!" Zube began to try to back up, but Flightly only gave a small chuckle. Before he could investigate this curious riolu, this insolent problem had to be dealt with. What a shame, too- hearing about this rioly brought a little light back into his dull life.

Thankfully, it would be over quick for the cranidos- Flightly was no pipsqueak. His eyes turned bloodshot as he tapped into the same rage a pokémon from a mystery dungeon must feel as they tear out the life of their invaders.

Sometimes, he was thankful to have been born a feral and to have this gift of rage.


	9. Dreaming

Lugum didn't understand what was going on in front of her. Dark specters paced about a small village, their ghostly forms smashing together as if they desired to materialize. The surrounding village was basic to the extremes, where even the old-fashioned nostalgia of the wood had been filed off as if by years of someone scraping it away with their nails. The grass had lost its color a long time ago, and shined with a startling grey. It took Lugum a minute to how odd it all was. Places aren't supposed to be so bland.

"H-hello?" Lugum called out, hugging herself as she searched for something more than black, brown, and grey-green. She found it; a colorful pedestal of decorated bright-brown wood sparkled in the backyard of a small cabin, and a small riolu child ran around it, watching it like as if it could get up and move at any moment. "H...hell...?" Nightmares- Lugum had been so racked by them before, a long time ago, she had begged for death. It all came back to her.

The black shapes, the small child, the shapeless village: it was a recurring dream that haunted her every night, even when it did not arise. Even tonight she curled up and hoped that the day's events did not summon them again. How embarrassing it would be to have an episode in front of them... their presence exacerbated her nightmare, made the threat of the dream a reality. Lugum began to tremble as the young, colorful child ran about the training post.

"Hell?" The child riolu asked in her high, sing-song voice. "Don't call my village that!" She, the child, spoke to her, after years of silence. The dream had transitioned for the first time ever. Almost manic with glee, Lugum dropped down and crawled towards the child, as if the shadows would try and stop their first encounter. "Hehe, were you trying to say hello? You're nervous, aren't you?"

"Oh Arceus," Lugum choked out hastily, "what is this? What does it all mean? Tell me, hurry! Please!" She taunted Lugum by resuming her run.

A paw flashed out and struck the top pole of the post, causing it to fly around rapidly. With her other paw, the child stopped it. "Father tells me I have to hit it slowly. Slowly and hard." With a determined yet frustrated grunt, the riolu smashed her paw into the top pole. It spun quickly and smacked her before she could get away. Lugum watched as the child gazed through the open door of her home. A cacophony that neared the noise of laughter rang as if through padded walls. Three shadows milled about inside, staring at her. A very dark look came over the child's face.

"I'm going to hit it fast, like father teaches me in secret. Ready?"

That instant, Lugum's heart was thrown into disarray. Blood drained from her face, and if she had been soft-spoken before, the child's choice caused her to become completely unable to articulate. "No. Please." She had to get out of this nightmare. The _tacks_ ringing off the pole began in a steady pace. It made the child very happy, and the shadows within the house begin to quake. Their rumblings got louder and louder, and they were soon coming out.

When the child had spoke to her she had seen it as a blessing, to finally figure out this nightmare. But now... now was the time to find a way out through any means necessary. As the shadows pulled the child away from the practice pole, Lugum's eyes widened as she felt a cold touch on her leg. "H-help..." they pinned her down mercilessly, keeping her on her hands and knees. The groans went silent with a final shout of protest from the girl, and all Lugum eventually felt was a permanent fear and biting cold.

A shadow walked to her front, and its shapeless form gave a grin. "Such interesting dreams you have," it said in pristine clearness. "I can tell it hurts you to think about them. Am I right to assume that this is the case?"

She nodded desperately. Nothing was allowed to become numb. "I would rather die." Would she?

"My, my, my... what sharp teeth you have, for a riolu," the shadow commented. "what a shame it could be, if you were to bite off your own tongue. The shadows will torment you no more if you die that."

It wasn't what she wanted. She didn't seek to die just because of nightmares. "No... please... there has to be another way."

She whined as the shadow leaped forward and wrenched her tongue out of her mouth. He squeezed it hard, causing worldly pain to come to her. "_Bite your tongue, Lugum. End it all." _His voice reached a hypnotic potential of what could only be a psychic or ghost. It was too powerful to resist, but it didn't stop her from trying. "_Bite it! Give me my reward for having hunted for so long!" _

Suddenly, her maw ripped open, as if someone was trying to rip her head in half. "Ago, Check the teeth. Make sure there aren't any openings."

"What are you doing to her?!"

"Do what I said, now! Fuck, she's strong..."

Was that Ago and Daté she just heard? She wondered what they were doing in her nightmare. But then, she began to ask what _she_ was doing back inside of it. This was the past- it was never coming back. With a firm pull, she ripped her tongue out of the shadow's hand, which caused the bland colors of the nightmare to wash away.

She woke up panicking and frenzied, with Daté giving her a real look of concern. Her rapid breaths came out silently as the grovyle held her maw apart, so that she couldn't get to her tongue. Although the intent of the shadow was heavily implied, was tongue-biting really a mortal wound? She had been very close, so very close to ripping her tongue out just to get out of a nightmare. "Lugum. What happened? Do you know who attacked you?" Daté asked.

Instead of answering, she ripped her muzzle out of his hands, her eyes full of shame. Once again, both Ago and this grovyle witnessed her weakness. No one had attacked her; she was just too weak-willed to survive a petty nightmare. "It... it happens all the time."

Ago ran up to her, appalled. "There's no one outside- and holy fuck, Lugum! You sleep in this furniture depot inside of a cave that looks like a damned sharpedo... and you have nightmares of your own to deal with? Lugum, this place makes me uncomfortable just standing in it. What if Daté wasn't such a huge fucking weirdo that he could-"

"Hear your tongue sliding across your teeth as you prepared to bite it," he filled in, disinterested. The fact that he had _heard_ something like that amazed her. It upsetted her that Ago thought that way about her home. It was a nervous tick, but Lugum found it impossible to resist filling the place to the brim with furniture. The harder it appeared to move everything out, the better. So what if it looked like a maze of sitting stools and couches, of beds and mats, of lanterns and decorations? It was fun to explore it. And if you couldn't see the roof of the cave at some points because

"Yeah! You would be dead right now-"

Lugum put all of her whimsy confidence into a single, gentle chuckle. "Guys, let's forget about it! Right now, Ago, I'm just so excited to take you with me to work, and to the Dojo, you're going to love it all!"

A disgusted grunt came from the grovyle. The look of concern was now gone- most likely, any emotion of the sort would be quite rate- and he frowned at his hands. "Arceus, Lugum, you drooled all over me." He reached over to wipe some of it off on a special mat decorated with the pattern of a togepi egg.

In an instant Lugum had leaped over there politely and took his paw away from it. "Hehe, don't you fucking lay a dirty hand on my furniture!" She kind of got trapped between two conflicting attitudes right then, and she couldn't decide which one to go with- polite or angry. The result was an extremely peppy and creepy way to express her love for furniture collecting. Daté seemed wildly amused by it. He broke out into laughter as Ago shifted his eyes away guiltily.

"Wow, that's like the first aggressive thing I've ever heard from you. anyway, Lugum, I think I'll just stay here for the day. I want to try and get used to this body," Ago explained. Lugum knew this would happen. All it took was a bit more patience, but the disappointment was still there, despite wanting to fulfill Ago's wishes.

"I... understand."

Daté shot a look over at the pikachu. "Oh, is that the case? Hey Lugum, listen to this: Ago went out for a midnight walk."

Lugum put her head to side curiously. "He did? Why?"

"Don't know. Anyway, I think he tripped or something, because he was pretty dirty when he came back in. And instead of trying to clean any of it off, poor Lugum, he just went and..."

She breathed in deeply. "What did he do?"

"I'm-feeling-a-little-more-ready-actually-let's-go -Lugum!" Ago yelled out in a one-second outburst of desperation.

Her paws came together in a pleased clap. "Yay, I knew you would come around! You'll absolutely love my boss, he's the best ever."

For some reason or another, Ago threw up a claw at Daté, a stoic stare on his face. She wondered what kind of gesture he was trying to make.

Something told Ago that this was going to be a day of not being able to make decisions. For the most part, he wanted more than anything to find out who he was. But this riolu, Lugum, had already started the gradual progress of taking up all his attention. With all the problems the socially awkward pokémon had, she was like a black hole that sucked up one's time. No wonder, as she implied, others try to stay away from her.

Although he was not an expert on riolu, she appeared to be extremely limber and tall. If somebody assumed she was a little loopy based upon the empty look in their eyes, her upright, military march confirmed it. Everything moved so uniformly and loosely, and she probably didn't even know it. "I'm glad you decided to come with me," she told him, "I'm scared, Ago. Nothing before made me suffer like that nightmare did... I think it was the first time I realized that the little child was me."

"Who?" Ago asked curiously. She was talking as if everyone knew- a carefree way of thinking. Even so, it was good that she brought the subject up. Ago hated bringing things up.

"Oh. Well, there is a little girl, sparring with a training pole. In this last dream, she finally talked to me. And then she started to hit the pole very fast like her father taught her and the shadows became angry. Shadows pinned me down... I was so scared and cold. One of them suggested that I bite my tongue... and you know the rest I guess. A few minutes after waking up, I felt perfectly fine! It was only a nightmare, after all. I'm stronger than them.

That was a huge surprise. This riolu considered herself stronger than something. Ago grimaced at the beatings he suffered both on the beach and inside the guild, all for this riolu's sake. Already, he formed an opinion on what would be the more interesting excursion; the 'Dojo' would be the perfect place to see if Lugum can validate her weakness. Lugum caught sight of someone, and the talk about the nightmare was cut short. "Oh, hey, Zube!"

The zubat stopped in his short hops. He had his good wing crossed over his chest like a protective screen. "H-hi Lugum." Ago was curious how the low-life would act around the two of them, after Lugum kicked his ass, and the zubat had kicked his. He seemed almost too calm about the awkward situation. Then again, so did Lugum. "If you excuse me, I must travel quickly to my destination." What else was there other than Lugum's cave on the coast was a good question, but Ago shrugged off the bandit's departure. If he wanted to prove himself, he needed an opponent other than a cripple.

"Sometimes I have good dreams too," Lugum continued. Her death experience last night must have made her attitude out of sorts, because she seemed very clear-headed now. "Like one near a well, and another with- a pidgeotto lying down on the side of the path?"

Ago and Lugum stopped and watched the sun beat down on an unconscious pidgeotto's back. What was this town? Everyone ended up unconscious or gravely injured. "Well," Ago sighed, "I suppose we should check it out. But Lugum- I swear to fuck if you try to give him a place to stay..." she nodded meekly and sneaked in close to the bird. "He is breathing," Lugum observed, "but he isn't waking up for some reason."

In a small satchel on his side, Ago saw a small note poking out. Interested, Ago slowly slipped it out. When the header proclaimed 'what to do if you find me knocked out', he began to read it aloud. "If you are reading this right now," he read, "then that means you have encountered me some place or the other, and that I am unresponsive to typical modes one would use to summon back consciousness." This bird's writing was giving him a headache. How did he get it all down in the first place?

What came after that- the solution- was ever worse than the stilted writing: "I'll wake up eventually, of course, but if you wish to mediate my narcolepsy then you must crush up the apple in my bag- covered in rousing herbs that will not harm most pokémon- bite out a piece and chew it about thirty or so times, and then drop the food into my mouth. Thank you in advance."

Lugum looked over to him. "What?" The pikachu held the note in dead silence. After a few more moments, Ago scoffed and threw the note aside.

"Let's go, Lugum, this is the stupidest fucking things I've ever- _LUGUM?!" _

"I... chew a bite from this apple... and then put it in his mouth?" She said to herself ponderously. "That's weird... but I can't leave him here. A criminal might find him."

Ago couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Lugum, don't you dare! You don't owe this guy a shitting thing! L-look at this bag- there is only the note and the apple. He is obviously setting pokémon up to do some sick ritual with him."

"Probably had his things stolen," Lugum said as she bit into the apple. "Zube stole his stuff," she muttered. Ago grimaced; that was a good guess.

"N-narcolepsy doesn't involve rousing herbs and stuff to wake up, Lu!"

She chewed the apple thoughtfully. "Are you a pidgeotto expert now, or something? Weird things can occur I of all pokémon should know."

"Lugum, you are about to place this bird in a non-consensual lip-lock and force feed him a drugged apple." He had thought that putting the simple truth out there had the power to stop her, but it only made her more excited. Ago desired to avert his eyes, but he was too late; nothing would ever block out the moment from his memory- nothing. Ever. What a start to his second day as a pokémon.

Immediately, possibly a little too fast, the pidgeotto woke up from his sleep. "Oh, bother... where did I end up this time?" He stood up and took a good, analyzing look at his surroundings. "Ah. I was going for a walk... and now the majority of my provisions are gone. Luckily, my note about the apple prompted the thief to leave it as an unnecessary risk."

Ago, still shocked, crossed his arms and looked away. "Who brings 'provisions' on a walk?"

The bird cocked his head to the side and smiled. "Pokémon who do not like dying of undernourishment, of course." He left Ago to fume as he turned to thank the riolu. "Ah, you must be the one who undertook that sick task. Please, accept my apologies to put you through such a sordid affair."

She shook her head fervently. "N-no, I just hope I did it right!" _Did it right?_ Lugum was treating it like a first fucking kiss! Ago gaped as he helplessly watched the ice break from the most awkward thing he had ever witnessed.

He nodded excitedly. "My name is Flightly, and I think you did excellently. Top marks, really. You are a natural. I hardly even felt it, and that may not be said to be caused by my narcoleptic stupor. I might even dare to say my own mother could not perform adequately. The way the apple was chewed more into a fine paste and not chunks, and kept away from the interior of your mouth- very respectful..." Ago was going to start blowing chunks if the conversation continued. Plus, 'Flightly' really shouldn't compliment those teeth of hers, considering just half an hour ago she was trying to turn her tongue into a 'fine paste'.

A small gasp came from the riolu as she turned her eyes down. "Better than... your mother?" Ago was at least ninety percent sure that this pidgeotto was up to something nefarious from that single play. If the pidgeotto had said that to anyone other than a pokémon who was apparently addicted to being a caretaker, Ago prayed that they would incapacitate him and run away fast. It was a flirtation that would never ever (thankfully) work again. The bird was already beginning to play Lugum like a fiddle, and they had just met.

It made him jealous to think a random pokémon dumb enough to take a nap on a path could figure out everything he was wondering about. "Hey, Lugum, you're going to be late for work," he tried. That got her attention, and she jumped up quickly.

"Oh, no! I'm really sorry, but I think we should talk again." For a minute, the pidgeotto gave him a condescending grin that said _stop ruining my fun_. All it told Ago was that this guy is a misogynistic little shit. _  
_

Ago silently scoffed as the awe-struck and panicking Lugum pulled him away. Talk again? Not if Ago could help it.


	10. Working

"The.. Ravenous Mightyena?" Ago read out loud, most likely amazed that Lugum would even think of entering such a place. There was only awe in her eyes as she looked at up towards the roof- a hollowed out replica of a mightyena skull. In the art of restaurant managing, nothing could have been a more obvious red flag than fashioning an arcing entryway after your skull. Regardless, pokémon of all types were lumbering in and out.

Lugum loved to work here on the good days, and the bad days weren't even that bad either. Thematically the place terrified her, but the inside owned a very warm place in her heart. "Oh, I hope I don't have to quit my job because of the situation with guild. It is very nice here."

A lumbering lombax sidled past Ago so he could go in. "What do you do here, exactly?"

It wasn't exactly working as a waitress, so it was a good question. "I serve the rowdier customers. The name of the place attracts a few bad types... I'm fairly resilient so it helps to prevent injuries that are more severe to other pokémon."

The pikachu crossed his arms doubtfully. "That's really it?"

"Uh, yeah. We're not talking about a hurt eye or a small tussle, Ago."

"Oh," he said, finally understanding, "you're the waitress they send out when a grumpy scyther needs to be served. First there is a fly in his soup so its off with your arm, right?"

She grabbed the top of her arm shyly. "Not funny, Ago. That's nearly happened to me before. A scyther nearly cut off my arm." They were empty words, though, because Lugum felt proud of her position. The restaurant and the dojo were the only two places where the other inhabitants of Treasure Town respected her presence. It created a sad barrier, too; the co-workers who joked with her during shifts gave her the cold shoulder the moment they were out of work. It made her realize how disinterested pokémon became around her outside of work.

All the thinking Lugum was doing would make her late for her job. Haste drove her to wordlessly drag Ago through the front door of the Ravenous Mightyena and through the dark yet warm decor of the interior. "It is insane to to think that you guys- I mean, _we_ accommodate for all the different species. Like how you use mats instead of tables." The circular dome shimmered with candlelight, and a winding ramp in the back most likely led to a basement.

"Right! Segregating pokémon with your furniture is an easy ticket to going out of business!" An excited voice called out. "So we use mats, and if we ever need tables I'll just ask Lugum if I can borrow some of hers- lessen the weight for when all of that stuff finally topples down on top of her." A gleeful mightyena pranced his way towards Lugum and Ago. The pikachu tried as hard as he could, but any attempt to recognize his smile were drowned out by his chewed-off left ear and missing tail.

Ago jumped when a completely unexpected laugh came from the riolu. "Gastro, I'm back!" She ran forward and scooped the mightyena into a hug. If only Ago hadn't seen her try to bite her tongue this morning... he would have seen Lugum as a peppy yet awkward riolu. Now, he couldn't look at the mightyena jokingly pleading to be let down as a purely authentic scene. "I know you probably heard the rumors-"

"You bet I did! They tore me apart because it reminded me of just how big of an imagination those guild members can have. I nearly closed down because I was so devastated, but I knew it never amounted to anything more than gossip. You have to check in with me if pokémon are going to say stuff like that; you scared me half to death!" What made this all even odder was that Lugum had only effectively been gone for one day.

Without another second to spare, Lugum dropped the mightyena and gave him her full attention. "I am ready to work, Gastro!" With a deft leap, Gastro planted himself on the wide arc surrounding the staircase to the basement.

He leaned down and glared at her. "_Are you?!" _

_"Yes!" _

"_I can't hear you..."_

_"Yes Gastro mister boss sir!" _

Ago spotted some fellow spectators- a sharp trio composed of a zangoose, a scyther and a sandslash. They watched him with amusement in their eyes as Ago tried to make sense of the odd situation. One of them, a zangoose, gestured for him to come over. "Hey there, foreigner," he called out as Ago walked close. Other mats began to turn their attention to the back of the restaurant as the riolu and the mightyena continued their yelling match. "You're probably wondering what in hell's name they are doing, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said hopefully. This only made the group sigh with disappointment.

"Told you that he wouldn't know, Laceration," the scyther reprimanded. _Laceration? _The names that some of these pokémon took on were ridiculously violent. "Please, if you ever find out, let us know. Team Razorwind is not a gaggle of lazy interior explorers, but they do this every day and it pisses us off that we don't know what it means." The sandslash nodded. "Is it to psych her up? I heard that she had no guts, but this is a little overkill."

Seeing the scyther reminded Ago of the conversation he had with Lugum earlier. "Hey, wait a minute. Are you that scyther that took a swipe at Lugum's arm?"

The scyther instantly shot up, his blades twirling about furiously. "_Why does this keep getting brought up?! It was a bad day! It wasn't like I was going to cut all the way through!" _He roared and flashed a bladed arm at Gastro and Lugum. "_Stop putting on a show and get us our damn food!"_ Gastro yelped and accidentally stepped onto the curved part of the arc, where his clawed feet couldn't find a hold. Lugum gasped as he slipped off and hit the ground, and promptly scrambled downstairs. After a second she quickly followed.

A claw from Laceration reached out and slowly took the scyther's arm down. "Sit the fuck down, Razor. You're going to make a concerned exploration team jump on us." He turned to Ago. "You'll, uh, have to excuse his attitude. He takes the word 'bug-brain' where it has never gone before." The scyther snorted and turned his head up with disdain. "If you're waiting for Lugum, you can sit with us for awhile. We have some charting work to do in three hours or so, and- just in case- there's no better place for a last meal than the Ravenous Mightyena."

That seemed very pessimistic to the pikachu. "Exploring is that bad, huh?"

"When you have blades for arms or a spike-ridden back," the sandslash said quietly, "or when your purpose is combative in nature, you're more likely to get a position in charting than in exploring."

Ago frowned angrily. "That's not fair! Are you saying that because Lugum is a riolu, she's piss out of luck? That's stupid!"

"On the contrary; charting is the purest form of exploration. Teams like ours, Team Razorwind of the Coastal Guild, are the precursors to later, more educated explorations. When in a dungeon, one shouldn't take time to notice patterns, or easier paths. In a mystery dungeon, the ferals' sole purpose is to hunt you- an entire forest or cave ecosystem dedicated to ending your life. We withstand these assaults so that we may pave a better path for those with 'trade skills'."

Laceration nodded sullenly. "It is a necessary job, but one that most guild's assign too carelessly on pokémon like us. Our lives are in the hands of our survival skills, our fighting abilities, and the instincts of the guide leading us through the location." He turned his frown into a smile, however. "But Spikes here is one of the best guides, so that makes us the best!"

Finally, Lugum came running out from downstairs. She ran to the group with three large bowls balanced on her paws. With a low sweeping kick and a fling of her arm, she slid out all three bowls to the center of the mat. "Ta-da!" She cheered. Ago gave a small clap, and she bowed as she ran back to the stairs.

"Word spreading yesterday is that the Wigglytuff Guild got caught up in a situation with her, and now they are taking a serious interest in putting her on a charting team," Spikes said.

The three, especially Ago, waited on the guide's next words.

"Hope they like having blood on their hands." There had been a small amount of envy burning inside Ago for their bowls of what seemed to be a chowder- he couldn't remember the last time he ate- but that last comment was enough to get rid of his appetite. Eventually, Spikes gave him an empathetic look and said: "Anyway. How are you liking Treasure Town so far?"

They began a conversation about local sights and some of the other guilds. They mentioned organizations like the Coastal Guild- which focused primarily on charting- and the Bureau of Courtesy- a group of unknown interior explorers that deals in the internal affairs of exploration guilds. The time passed by quickly, and by the time Lugum was let out early on account of her issues yesterday, Spikes had informed Ago on how to get to their headquarters.

He smiled modestly. "There is no doubt in my mind that if Lugum gets offered a charting position, she will accept. If you care about her safety, you might as well learn how to guide under my instruction."

Ago carelessly extended his claw out for a handshake. "Thanks a lot. I appreciate it."

After another moment, Ago realized that Spikes probably thought he was trying to provoke him and attempted to pull his claw away. At the last second, the sandslash grabbed it with his own right claw. "Now what happens?" Spikes asked curiously. Ago awkwardly shook the guide's arm, and he returned the gesture. "Pikachu are very forward. I am glad to have earned your friendship."

Padded hops sounded off from behind the embarrassed pikachu as Lugum pulled him away. "Stop being a creep, Ago, or you are going to make me late for classes as well!" Wherever Ago had come from, what he had done wasn't _that_ serious of a gesture- especially if it came as easily as saying hello and goodbye. He wondered how Spikes interpreted the gesture.

There was a lot of time to think about it, because Lugum began rambling about how great Gastro and her performed during her shift. "Did you see my spin move?" She asked Ago for what must have been near the thousandth time, "Team Razorwind was _so impressed!"_ Not exactly, Ago lamented. One of them considered her as good as dead if she joined the Wigglytuff Guild, and the other two silently agreed. "Oh! The dojo!" After a few minutes walking down towards the coast, a large brown mass appeared as they cleared a small hill.

The building continued with the bone theme. This time, however, it was a pair of large crossbones placed on top of an ornate iron gate. The facility was huge, as Ago supposed it had to be if they wanted to fit all sizes of pokémon inside. From the club-like aspect of the crossbones, Ago guessed from Lugum's earlier explanations on social standing that the dojo was owned by a marowak or a cubone.

It couldn't be more impossible for Ago to define all the training equipment and exercises he was seeing. The pokémon in the Dojo separated themselves into neat sections based on type and what they wished to improve. It made each individual section a stage, and every pokémon tried their best to show off. "Isn't this place wonderful- _ack!" _

Ago backed away as a spinning club smacked Lugum's head. The club continued its spin until it returned to its owner, an angry marowak. "You are late, Lugum? Never make a pupil wait." That needed a double-take; Lugum was the _teacher?!_ "You are lucky that he is sick today, or it would be more than just one throw. "Go now and improve your dishonorable self!"

"Ow... that hurt," Lugum whined.

"Maybe if you wanted her to train, you shouldn't brain her?"

He definitely underestimated the marowak's control. She managed to get both Lugum and him with one mighty throw. His arms swung out and about in an attempt to regain balance. It was not a pleasant experience. "No complaining! No back-talking foreigner! If she can take a grate to to the front she may take a bone to the back." Everyone knew about what happened two nights ago- news traveled quickly in Treasure town.

Lugum rubbed the back of her head. "I can't tell if you're still disoriented from getting hit or confused that I'm the teacher," she said shyly. "I only assume you are, since it surprises me, too. It's a machop I saved from a feral tauros, out on the common pasture leaving Treasure Town. His father insisted that I teach him... but all I did was distract the tauros. Anyway..."

A small training post, complete with pools and rotating cuffs, caught her eye. Out of all the interesting tools- he even saw a body of electrified water- it was odd that Lugum chose to stare at this one. Without another word, she walked up close to it, and assumed an aggressive pose. It was an intimidating stance, but Ago felt there was something off about it, that it didn't really fit her.

Without warning, Lugum jumped forward and threw her weight into hitting the top pole. The cuffs creak as they spun, and Lugum cried out as the pole hit her. Again and again, she tried to the same thing, never able to recover from her hard punches in time to dodge the pole. Some jerks were laughing at her failure, which pissed Ago off. Even more, the display worried him; what if Lugum brought this into a dungeon, where her life was on the line? She wasn't able to give it her all with the way she was trying to hit it.

If he didn't _try_ to help, Lugum's determination would make her bite off more than she could chew, and the overreaching would slay her. "Lugum, wait a minute," he called out.

The riolu stared at the ground, ashamed. "I know it looks bad, Ago. It was this bad in my dreams too. But there, she started to hit it quickly and it worked... but I don't understand how I used to do that. I can't remember something from that long ago... punching so quickly, being so fast on my feet..." trying to relax, the Lugum curled up like she had on the beach. It only made more pokémon scoff and chuckle at her.

Suddenly, Ago was overtaken by a fantastic idea while watching her curl up. "Lugum, you like that position, right?"

"Yes! I can't do anything else!"

Cautiously moving towards the volatile riolu, he slowly wrapped around her. He kept her arms locked in place around her head and slowly brought her to a standing position. Now that he saw her, standing and covering her face, he definitely could recall something from his human life_. _"What... what is this? If I'm standing up, they'll hit my sides.

Working quickly, Ago slowly adjusted her arms so that the riolu had vision. He extended her right leg and moved the left back, and then backed up so that he may admire his handwork. If Lugum wanted to hit quickly, this was the perfect position for her to do it from. "You don't need to worry about kicking or punching hard, Lu. Just keep your balance and try to hit it how you used to. Like this." He put his claws up and did slow, awkward looking punches. His body wasn't very good for this.

Breathing deeply, Lugum slowly shuffled up to the post. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down; no one was going to yell at her or pin her down here. Stepping forward quickly, Lugum threw out a paw and tapped the post. It spun around slowly, and she backed away as she put her paw back in front of her face.

"No, don't back up. Use one arm to strike the post first, and then the other to strike it away as it returns," Ago told her.

She flung a right hook out at the top post, with more force. As it spun around, she deftly smacked it away with her other arm. Without having to think about it, her right paw smacked into the middle post, and then immediately flew upwards to elbow away the top post. For the first time in a while, Lugum was having fun training herself. It made her realize how much of an excuse her classes became to neglect her own development.

_I'm going to hit it fast._ That was Lugum's childhood promise to herself. _Like my father taught me_. Faster and faster, she worked through the pattern, until the post was spinning too rapidly to maintain it. But she began to weave in and out of certain rotations, and use her legs on the middle and bottom post. What seemed rapid before soon became slow and lagging compared to the constant whine of the rotating cuffs.

Wanting to go faster, Lugum began to work her way around the pole, meeting the jutting pieces before they could come back to her. Using the tiny amount of air-time between her small leaps, she struck out with her legs. Eventually, she was hitting the top post with her legs as well. Lugum had never felt this way before. She controlled the inconsequential training post, it was hers and only hers. It was a mystery how fast it was really moving.

It _was_ a mystery, until Lugum found a very decent indicator: the piece of training equipment had caught fire. A paw flashed out and smacked away a flying bone, but the thing managed to catch her attention before she tried to continue. Breathing heavily, the riolu finally backed off as a poliwhirl began dousing the post. She looked at her handiwork- a burnt and shattered piece of a forgotten past. It felt liberating to destroy the thing that had caused her so much fear.

"L-Lugum!" The Dojo's owner cried out, shocked. "What in Arceus's name was _that?_ I expect t-total compensation!"

Ago gave a long, drawn-out laugh that caught the Dojo's attention. "_Who's laughing now?" _He yelled out at the Dojo. Lugum wanted to be _fast,_ but that display was far beyond description. Right then, however, the riolu's eyes teared up with appreciation. She would have never guessed that all she needed to do was stand up and keep her paws high, as simple as it sounded. The tears blurred her vision, and she felt extremely exhausted. It took all of her effort to slow down her panting. _  
_

A yellow claw appeared before her face. "Come on," he said, "let's go and get you some rest." Lugum mumbled her gratitude as the pikachu picked her up and helped her out of the Dojo.


	11. Fighting

A slow and painstakingly true grumble came from Ago's stomach as they finally reached the center of town again. The last time he ate had to be half a day ago, or maybe even more than that. Oddly enough, Lugum seemed to be skipping out on meals as well. Humans, he supposed, ate when they were bored. But if there was a thing on this continent, Orchidia, more entertaining than Lugum's unwarranted display of speed, he'd be surprised.

The entertainments of the his day in Treasure Town were not yet over. A small group of pokémon had congregated to the bottom of the hill leading to the Wigglytuff Guild, which lied just a short walk away. Even the distance couldn't hide the fervor and anxiety coming out of the shifting crowd, and the tight circle they made confirmed it: there was a fight going on.

"Hey, Lu, did you want to see what's going on over there?" Ago asked. She still panted slightly, but something told Ago that the post broke before her energy did, and that she wanted more. Hopefully, watching a fight would suffice. He leaned in close and pointed at the crowd.

She gave a few quick nods. "If someone hasn't broken it up yet, then whatever pokémon involved are very tough." A panicked Chatot suddenly descended upon them, his panicked squawks accompanying Lugum's pants and Ago's growling stomach. The surprise visit caused Lugum to fall down shouting and flailing out at the Commanding Officer. "Why," she finally breathed after catching her breath, "did you sneak up on me like that?"

The bird paced back and forth- it made Lugum dizzy, how fast he pivoted to and fro. "Where are all the guild masters or the authorities located at this hour? Do they think trouble takes a break?! _Pure incompetence!" _His talons swished through the dirt as he spun around again. "Thank Arceus I found you, maybe you could talk some sense into the lumbering idiot."

"Who, Chatot?" Lugum asked indifferently.

"We only know of one lumbering idiot, Lu," Ago reminded her, "and that's Daté. What did he do?"

Stress and overexertion caused a few feathers to come loose as the Chatot flung his wings up. "He assaulted the leader of Team Raider, Chivalry, because he didn't get what he wanted through thievery! The fight is extremely close to getting lethal for him, and if we have another pokémon die in town on our watch... one that does not pop up out of their grave..." Lugum shifted her eyes away. "It will spell big trouble."

The riolu put on an adamant face. "I'm _tired," _she complained. "I'm sure that he can handle Chivalry without anyone getting hurt, anyway" Ago suppressed a laugh; Lugum, saying no to someone. Hitting that post really boosted her confidence.

Chatot squawked and flapped in front of the lazy riolu. "Not at the level of intoxication he has reached today, and not even if he was sober. Team Raider does not play shenanigans with wash-ups! What do you even base your guess on other than lazy behavior? Just because you have traveled around allowing yourself to get slain doesn't mean death is valueless-"

Ago sighed as loud as he possibly could in order to shut up the bird. This was Lugum's just desserts for adopting drunk, unemployed pricks. Whines and protests followed them all the way to the tightly knit circle. Chatot made use of his status to clear a path to the front. As they pushed their way in, Ago and Lugum heard the pokémon gossiping about the pair.

"Daté has really done it for sure, this time."

"Y-yikes, I always thought he could use a little bit of humility, b-but this is a bit much!"

"500 poké on Chivalry."

The pair arrived just in time to see the grovyle slam into the ground. The crowd clambered away from his tumbling body. A well-composed gallade stood with his bladed arm raised high to accentuate the crushing blow. Without warning, the grovyle twisted out of his tumble and launched himself at the leader of Team Raider. But the position was for more than show; Daté cried out as the side of that bladed arm pummeled him into the ground. A victorious Chivalry twisted his head disdainfully. "You are _so_ unrefined. If you had spent more time training and less time drinking and stealing, maybe your loss wouldn't be so absolute."

He knelt to the ground and placed a hand on the grovyle, who was attempting to get up. "Oh, no we don't. We said best two out of three, unless you wanted to wager your life. Is that what you're telling me?" Slowly, he reached towards the satchel hanging from his downed opponent's side.

Daté spun onto his back and smacked the hand away. He chuckled as he slowly stumbled back. "_Fu-uu-ck," _he moaned in slurred speech, "I don't have all day... time's running out for us all..." he slipped and fell right on his ass. It only caused him to laugh even harder. With a spit and a hard push he threw himself back up and into a fighting stance. "Ha. It's fun having someone who talks back as we fight... too long have I been trapped with silent demons. It thrills me to know that you will feel the consequences of this fight to the death as well. Forever... forever I took on all the guilt for the fights alone! This rush... death is worth the price."

"What is he going on about?"

"H-he's delusional chivalry, stop him before he goes berserk on the crowd!"

"Stop this, stop it now!"

"_Shut up, all of you!" _Daté roared. Slowly, he took a small flask out from inside the satchel. After taking a long swig, he stumbled back into a fighting stance. He held his arms long and loose in front of him, his leaf-blades ready to attack or defend. "The world rests on my shoulders, Chivalry. Can you say the same?"

The gallade backed away, slowly drawing his own arms up- he had definitely suspected the grovyle to submit. "You are making a mistake. I won't hesitate to kill you, as promised. If you take even a step near my person, I will slay you, _Date_." When Daté's head snapped up at the insult of having his name mispronounced, Ago swore that his rage was purely sober. Even now, against all other shames and mistakes, he kept his promise about caring for his name.

He slowly tensed himself up. "_My name," _he screamed in a barbaric cry, "_is 'Dah-tay'! And don't you ever forget it!" _The crowd simultaneously gasped as the grovyle vanished from his spot. Ago couldn't trace the movements that led the grovyle into melee range against Chivalry. He simply got there, some way or another. It was a terribly underestimated approach, and before the gallade could transition from his callous execution-style slice, Daté had already coiled himself around, his hand pounding into the back of his enemy's head.

Chilvary's recovery exploded with passionate fury. "_You are trying to hustle me!" _He roared, most likely embarrassed that the drunk had hit him. Any decency about the matter was gone; each slice by the gallade threatened a bloody end to the encounter. After many failed slices, the gallade leaped back and clasped his hands together. "Let's see you dodge my psyshock!"

A deafening ring of an explosion sounded out as the gallade opened his hands and slammed them together again, his eyes intently focused on the grovyle. The crowd standing behind Daté flew back from the sheer resounding force of the attack.

With a quick spin, Daté threw out a leaf from each wrist, which he promptly replaced with vines that plunged into the dirt. He grimaced and shut his eyes as the psyshock blasted him into the air, the strength of the vines keeping him tethered. Dust and rocks tore at him. "Elegance has nothing to do with fighting!" He called out tauntingly as the attack subsided, "as pokémon, we are all meant to evolve, to adapt and outsmart. Now, fall to my fury cutter!" The blades remaining in his set glistened as he spun in for a winning blow.

Even Ago could see how easy the move was to dodge. With a small smirk, Chivalry easily jumped back and avoided the grovyle's path. Afterwards, however, Daté returned to his original stance and returned the smirk, and neither of them tried to attack. The gallade's eyes widened. "You are right," the grovyle said, dropping his stance. "I did hustle you. But you have to understand- I need the documents, Chivalry. Maybe, when you see how beautiful tomorrow is, you'll forgive me. For now, I set my sights on it in endless pursuit- much like I have done with you." The grovyle's long shadow covered his enemy.

"Why isn't Chivalry fighting?"

"... I don't get this fight. Everything is moving too fast to really tell."

"Let's go, leader of Team Raider! You have the drunk on the rope, I guarantee it!"

The grovyle sighed. "Parting is such sweet sorrow. Thankfully, you only have to deal with the loss of your legs for a day, maybe two. Goodbye, and good fight." The moment he threw up his arm and swung it sideways, blood jutted out from the back of the gallade's legs, splashing the dirt. The pokémon dropped down, his honor racked by his defeat to a rambling drunk. "

Lugum punched her arm into the air. "_O-oo-h!" _She squealed, "that was so _amazing_!" She then resorted to punching Ago. "I told you that he had it under control. The guy only wanted Chivalry to share... what a waste of time." The rest of the crowd, however, failed to notice any sort of clue that this could happen. The leader of Team Raider's head dropped, and the crowd dissipated in bleak silence.

In all truth, the fight scared the wits out of Ago. A day ago, he had been tumbling about on the floor with him like a common brawl. "F-fuck," he breathed. "Lu, he didn't even do anything! What did he do? Where the fuck did he find the time to get such a clean hit, when he was dealing with the blast from that psyshock crap?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, Lugum, it obviously fucking isn't!" As they spoke, the grovyle could be preparing the same thing on him, or someone else who had pissed him off.

"Well, it is not a uniform stratagem, and one that is fairly dependent on the perception of the viewer," a familiar, stilted voice insisted. Flightly, the pokémon Lugum force-fed, smiled modestly at the pikachu. "He knows how to use an advanced pursuit technique. When he smacked Chivalry's hand away, he established a connection between the two of them. That bond lied dormant until the gallade tried to make a dodge- then, Daté capitalized beautifully."

Ago couldn't believe he was talking to the disgusting fetishist. "What consummated the bond, though?"

He gave a small chuckle that made Ago want to smash the bird's beak in. "That isn't so obvious. Oh, the positioning was so perfect; pursuit is a slicing attack that is carried out by one's shadow. The gallade landed right on it, so all Daté needed to do was move his arm across. He is quite overly dramatic." Who was Daté? He was a grass type that seemingly controlled shadows, and a selective drunk who chose the time he would become sober. To Ago, these impressive facts could not be overlooked.

"I'm overly what?" Daté asked. The bird jumped and quickly turned around. When had the grvoyle turned around and came back here? The grovyle crossed his arms. "Excuse me, for having a little style. Er, how would that gallade put it? _Eex-strava-gaunch. Fee-ight wit hon-ure, on guard!" _Lugum exploded into laughter, causing Daté to smile as well. "Heh, you find that funny? Well don't expect-"

Suddenly, a paw flew into the grovyle's gut, cutting off his banter with a painful gag. "_What the fuck, Lugum_?" Ago shouted as the riolu used the element of surprise to knock the dangerous fighter flat with a leading right hook. This was messing with fire- Lugum was going to piss him off and get them all killed! With a forceful kick, she propped him right up to where he had started, except now stumbling and coughing; all the serving tricks at the restaurant had really paid off.

Daté breathed slowly, trying to relax himself after the unwarranted attack. "Mind telling me... why you would do that?"

"Absolutely. If I allow you to live in my home, which is a big step for me to s-say..." Ago gave, beyond his horror, a sympathetic smile at the riolu. 'Confident and independent Lugum' had apparently ran out of fuel. "Just... don't talk so much about dying. I said you could live in my cave because I want you to feel safe and valued a-and please-don't-hit-me-back!" Lugum threw her arms up over her face. "D-don't cut me in half with your shadow! I'm sorry!"

Instead of being angry however, the grovyle gave the smallest hint of a real smile. "You really like an ass like me, huh? Well... forgive me. I promise I won't gamble so riskily in the future." He suddenly tossed a hand out and pointed at Ago. "But while you were concerned about me, you forgot to feed your pet. I could hardly focus on the fight because of his stomach."

"My... pet? Oh, Ago!"

"_What?" _He cried incredulously. "_Aren't you going to at least try to defend me or something?! 'Oh no, Ago's not a fucking pet'! That's all you had to say- hey!" _The grovyle rolled his eyes and picked up the pikachu by the scruff of his neck. He knew better than to offer resistance, and went limp as the grovyle carried him away.

Lugum waved to Flightly. "Sorry, we kind of got side-tracked. I work at the Ravenous Mightyena, though. You can try meeting up with me there!"

And with that, they were gone and his first day of investigating had finished. When the coast was completely clear, a curious Zube came out. "Hehe," was the first thing out of the zubat's mouth.

"'Hehe'?" Flightly returned. "What is so humorous?"

"You're grinning like the biggest simpleton I've ever seen."

The pidgeotto lurched forward with surprise; he had been smiling for so long, watching the riolu leave, that it felt different to _not_ smile. "Uh, well, that may be attributed to how much I figured out about Lugum."

The zubat nodded excitedly. "How did your test with the apple go? I couldn't really stomach looking, so I just kept hopping away."

Flightly spoke very carelessly. "I would let her do it again."

The pidgeotto's friend began to guffaw so hard that he found it hard to keep in the air. He found it even harder when an enraged and embarrassed Flightly began to swat at him. "_I-I... you got it all wrong_! It was simple infatuation. I used to be feral, so when I see someone like her I am thinking in terms of survival. Just a potential mate if self-interest was all I had to worry about."

This only brought forth more laughter. "Wow, you must be deep in denial, to be pulling the _I'm a feral_ card!" The bird was too flustered to respond. "And when have you ever done something out of another pokémon's interest-"

"You are interested!"

"Oh, please!"

Even so Zube repeatedly insisted the rest of the afternoon that Flightly had found out a little about himself, he felt that the day had made more questions than answers. Where did that burst of speed in the Dojo come from? How does she go from hitting a far superior foe to begging for mercy in seconds? Was the mightyena in that restaurant _really _the cook? Where did she come from?

So what if the riolu made a good first impression on him? A lot of strong pokémon did. This was for informational purposes only. His intrigue could result in a new branch of pokémon behavioral studies, or something else.


	12. Talking

Whoever was out there watching Sharpedo Bluff that night probably thought that they were very smart. Not a single noise came from the small forest grove next to the pitch-black path. Neither could it be said that there was any visual evidence that a pokémon was lying in wait, ready to come close and force a troubled riolu to bite her tongue off. But Daté _smelled _the disgusting bastard- a mixture of blood and malignant dark energy that let off a sulfuric odor, and for this reason he would not allow himself to leave his vigil overlooking the ocean. This night, Daté would be the one giving out nightmares.

A chance like this presented itself only once. One misplay, one foolish move, and the pokémon would realize that this grovyle too could not stop him. To use such a powerful form of dream-eater... it was either a dark or a psychic type. Therefore, the grovyle had to weigh in the startling possibility that the assassin had laid himself out in the middle of the trail, and not in the forest. The natural color tones of those types allowed that. Dark types received a lot of flak for being inherently evil, and psychic types were harassed about their manipulative tendencies- their qualities pointed to these features in every way.

But it wasn't until the pokémon taking a hold on these powers and using them for what they knew was wrong, that the stench arose. The art of darkness was the style of acceptance. His shadow would have never cut Chivalry's legs if the grovyle himself had not accepted that there was a dark part of him capable of doing so. This dream-eating coward couldn't accept his shadow, and kept the dark energy trapped and rotting away like a feral in a tamer's basement.

Daté resisted the urge to turn around when the latch on the trapdoor to the cave clicked open. "So, you couldn't sleep either, huh?" A groggy pikachu asked him. "Lugum's been shuddering and whining all night. I covered her with more sheets but I didn't want to wake her... something felt wrong about not letting her deal with her own shit, you know?"

This was perfect; if the shadow lurking behind them was suspicious of Daté's awareness, then sparking up a conversation would make him seem ignorant. Plus, it made the watch a little less lonely. "Yes," the grovyle chuckled, "dealing with your own 'shit' can be healthy sometimes." He looked out towards the dark ocean that ran on to the ends of the world. "What do you think of this view, Ago?"

"That's a weird question- didn't really expect it, coming from you." Daté only grinned and kept his head down. "Alright, fine. I've always liked the ocean, during the day and the sunset, usually. To be honest, the ocean at night scares me. Any other time, it is so majestic..."

"But during the night, it just looks 'cold as fuck', am I right?" The pikachu widened his eyes in surprise, a look hardly visible in the moonless night. "Not to say I've got you down to a tee- it's only that I feel that way, and since I do you must as well. We're both pretty level-headed pokémon, am I right?"

Ago walked up the cliff edge and sat down. "Pokémon... yeah. I suppose. Maybe if we really do have so much in common, I'll start to regret attacking you back at the Guild." Daté laughed. "Someday, when I'm not piss-weak, we'll have to settle the score, alright?" That would be an interesting match-up; the grovyle had never been electrocuted before, but he had heard from others that it was the most uninvited, destructive, and instant rush of pain. However, if you were above the threshold of its strength, it only tingled. His grass type affiliation would help as well, so he'd be ready for that duel when it came.

Talking about the ocean reminded him of an interesting fact he heard a few months ago, when he had first arrived in Treasure Town. "Did you know that some pokémon go out there and explore the ocean? I heard that everyone who has ever tried has died. The pretty ocean brings them in, but then I bet night comes, and they are just lonely fools on a dark, unpredictable mass of water no pokémon was ever intended to survive."

The slightest noise of movement made the grovyle cringe with anticipation. Whoever was out there had been lulled into a false sense of security. The overconfident shit was inching his way forward, probably thinking that there is no one in his way, with these two distracted. The fresh smell of stale dark type energy caused even the ignorant pikachu to become more alert.

He looked at the grovyle, anxiety bleeding from his twitchy movements. "Is... is someone out there? I mean... I don't think its you, at least... but something _reeks,_" he whispered.

Daté looked at the pikachu with pure shock. How had he deduced that? The energy wasn't something one could immediately sense without practice. Nonetheless, he couldn't let whoever was out there get spooked. "I'm not a child, you brat," Daté hissed with a scowl, "stop trying to spook me." If the pikachu wanted to prove how witty and coy he was, then he would let him prove it by not treating the situation like an idiot.

A sigh came from the pikachu. "Damn, no need to get so angry," he laughed nervously. "Just trying to liven up this little midnight party." A critical situation, but the relief the spy felt had to be enormous. The grovyle smiled cruelly; no matter how good one is at sneaking about, there were two unavoidable aspects of stealth: one was that way breaths are withheld during those extremely tense moments, and the second was the assumed opportunity to give a-

The instant the grovyle heard that bastard's sigh of relief, he dashed backwards and flung out all of his leaves in an all-in effort to hit him. There was no helping his howl of glee when the disgusting thing screamed in pain, his writhing body becoming a visible piece of the trail. "Bullseye, motherfucker!" Daté screamed as he flew in for the kill.

It was all so exciting! He hated himself for it, and the friend he had all but forgotten probably did too. He remembered his best friend in the faintest ways, but could not remember anything other than his firm loyalty to him upon arriving in Treasure Town. Now, he had made the mistake of letting this riolu invite to live in his home. And he, even so he could go at things alone by this point, could not resist the enticements of friendship. The broken promise to find his friend had been drunken away by the grovyle, yet he still fought for the life of one, when almost everyone was in danger. The personal ties he made yesterday held him back. In a way, they held him together as well.

As he neared the dark lump, a violet light began to emanate from the pokémon- he wanted to hide his identity. Daté felt something underneath his feet and he slowed to a cautious, battle-ready walk. He looked down and saw that his throw had severed the hand from the vermin's body. "Wanted a closer look at the town drunk?" He taunted cruelly, "well the price for that is an arm and a leg." He slid three new leaves out of his right arm. "Thank you for the capital investment, but I'll now be taking the- _ack!" _

He had been careless, an idiot! Even with him hand no longer on his body, the pokémon would not give up, and somehow owned the strength to fight through the pain. It was the second psyshock he felt that day, but this one he couldn't prepare for. Shrapnel and pounding force sliced wounds in his body. As he flew back, grimacing with pain, he wondered if he had put a simple fresh friendship in front of Orchidia's most crucial mission.

No, none of the wounds were deep enough to stop him. But if he pursued the glowing punk, there was no guarantee his victory would be without grievous wounds. He let himself bounce away, and watched from the ground as the dream-eater ran away, a trail of blood flowing from his amputation.

"Lugum fucking lied to me!" Ago yelled furiously. "She said that no one did anything to her... damn it! Why is someone trying to kill her in the first place?"

Daté sighed. "She probably thought it was a part of her nightmare. As for the guy's motive, I bet that he doesn't like the idea of Lugum coming back to life. Or maybe he thinks he can steal that power away, if he found it in the confines of her mind. Oh, and thank you, by the way, for not treating the situation like a total idiot. You're fairly clear-headed- but only when your life is on the line."

"T-thanks... I guess... are you okay?"

He shook his head angrily. "I've had it up to here with being sliced up by bits of rock and wood. I'd rather be set on fire."_ Fire. _That reminded him that he still had something to do tomorrow. "I cut off his hand, so he won't be running around here anytime soon. In the meantime, however, I need to repent for incapacitating Chivalry."

It made the grovyle upset to see how doubtful Ago looked. Sure, it _was_ a lie, but that didn't ease the pain of the assumption that he wouldn't do such a thing. In normal circumstances, he really _would_ help them out. "How do you plan to do that?"

"They have an exploration mission that they need a guide for," Daté explained, "and since I kind of, well, you know. Since I did that, I need to fill in."

"Or they'll see you skipping towards them and unanimously decide to kick your ass."

"Maybe. Anyway, it will be about two months until I am back. And since I will be gone, you need to be in charge of-"

"Ha," Ago interrupted, "two months? Are you fucking with me? Lugum won't like that."

He shrugged. "It's great that she has suddenly started getting what she wants, but giving her everything is just the same problem in the opposite direction." The pikachu knew that it was true. "You need to take charge of whatever happens. Do you have a way to do that?"

Thankfully, the pikachu nodded confidently. "Yeah. A sandslash from Team Razor offered to train me. That'll give me something to do, and I'll be able to go with Lugum when she gets accepted to a- sheesh! Don't you find it a little odd how we've become so centered around this riolu? We're like a cult fighting for her self-interests."

"Hm?" It took him a second to finally understand Ago's meaning. "Oh! Yeah, I suppose that we're in a little competition. We want to help her as much as she is trying to help us- at least, that is how it is for me. Plus, we're all animals trying to run in a pack. This is a way to fit in and survive. You've only been together for a day, but she treats you like family... would you really try to leave someone so willing to do that?" The pikachu kept silent as he thought about the idea of family. Eventually, he gave a sigh of acceptance. "Come on, let's go back inside. I'm sure now that we will be safe for the night."

That was the grovyle Daté wanted to be. Tomorrow, he would set out and actually get stuff done. The confidence boost he gained from saving Lugum had led him to challenge Chivalry, and so far he had met with great success. Tomorrow would decide if he truly deserved to be at the head of this crucial mission.

* * *

Flightly quaked with fear and exertion, not knowing if he could hold his breath any longer. He scrunched his eyes shut and waited for the latch to the cave to sound before finally letting out a raspy, panicked breath. Moving as slowly as he could, he slowly wormed his way around the leaves that had bounced from the trail and into the tree he was crouched in front of. He didn't even know razor leaves bounced, but he sure did know.

What was scarier? The fact that there had been a murderous psychic pokémon hiding in front of him that he had not noticed, or the deadly moment Flightly thought that the attack was meant for him? He nearly reacted in a way that would have _definitely_ reveal his location. Luckily, he had kept himself composed.

How embarrassing. Throwing caution to the wind, the pidgeotto quietly chuckled. This only made things more interesting- like a little competition between two pokémon, each unknown to the other. Now, he would not only figure out who Lugum really was, he would do it before this assassin did and then dispose of the cruel creature.

Know came a fairly undesired aspect of the investigation, however. Since he couldn't fly, and hobbling down to his makeshift home would be too suspicious, he was going to have to conceal the evidence of the encounter within his beak. He looked towards the severed claw, wondering if he'd really go through with it.

Of course he would; he used to be a feral, and this would be nothing for a kind like that. Without thinking, he slowly scooped up the claw and quickly started on his walk home. The sooner he got it into some light, the sooner he could take out this new addition to Flightly's latest game.


	13. Passing

The experiences of the next two weeks put Ago's supposed humanity in the farthest, darkest corners of his mind. Team Razor, the exploration team he had met on his first day in Treasure Town, had chosen the Ravenous Mightyena as their own personal mess hall. Between the hours of banter the trio and Ago clocked inside of the place- the pikachu never suspected that such intimidating pokémon could be so gossipy- and the tutoring he took under the guidance of Spikes, things were simply too engrossing.

Mystery dungeons were not at all what Ago expected them to be. If Orchidia was a continent, he remembered thinking, then there would eventually be no more things to chart- especially if the main bulk of exploration dealt with caves and forests. But Spikes insisted that the dungeons changed every time, and that researchers all over Orchidia have began to realize a pattern in its transformation. It all had to do with the under-flowing Current of Orchidia.

"There are tunnels full of water from the Current, that go across Orchidia like veins and arteries," Spikes had said during a more studious than helpful lecture. He pointed at a crude map of these tiny tubes, running from thousands of locations to multiple large sources. "Of course, this is only where we guess they are- we'd have to be dumb-asses to dig it up, especially since more and more proof arises each day that the entire ecology of Orchidia relies on them."

Ago had nodded, wishing that Spikes would stop trying so hard to appease 'pikachu culture'. At first it had been handshakes, and now the sandslash inserted cuss words into his vocabulary, as if pikachu continent-wide worshiped words like 'fuck' and 'damn'. "It's like, uh, water growing a plant. Except we think that when the water runs through the system- which happens a few times a year- it does more than grow. It destroys, remakes, and creates all geological features you see on Orchidia." Spikes had leaned in, excited. "Want to know something that is fucking crazy? Mount Steel, in the near East... sprung up just three weeks ago."

Spikes went on to explain how, since the water had been seeped dry by creating that mountain, the region of Orchidia Treasure Town rested in would not feel its full effects for a long time. Small bits of energy went into resetting dungeons and shifting them, but no mountains would be coming out of nowhere anytime soon. Also, the 'Evolution Fountain' in Treasure Town would also be out of commission until the Moon Festival that came in three months time. "Oh, and I forgot to mention that the Current, when consumed in large quantities, evokes hallucinatory sounds and visions, and it triggers parts of a pokémon's body that causes them to evolve."

Ago had gaped at the sandslash for several minutes. How do you forget something like that? When he asked Lugum later that day whether or not she ever thought of using the fountain, she only sighed and went on to self-deprecate on being too weak to evolve.

Lugum's overall demeanor had slowly started to improve over the weeks. She was still a floppy, awkwardly-tall riolu who ran into trouble when she needed to speak up, but she seemed more at home with her own behavior. After hours of arguing, Lugum reluctantly agreed to take her screaming-match with Gastro to the kitchens of the Ravenous Mightyena. Eventually, patrons in the restaurant and the pokémon at the dojo where she trained finally began to cease the incessant murmuring about all the rumors surrounding her.

What did she use her newly found friends for? When Flightly, the obnoxious pidgeotto, wasn't where she was, she blabbered on about him without stop. If he was there- with his usual blank stare and confounded way of speaking- the riolu tried not to fawn over him and speak of other things. At the Dojo it especially annoyed Ago, since she would become clamored and distracted.

"I cannot help it!" Lugum told Ago after he reprimanded her, "However fighting is seen where you are from, it is different here. The way you fight and stuff... it is kind of like expressing yourself. For some pokémon it is like someone is reading your diary..."

"Okay, but I don't get why Flightly can't see it. It's just you hitting stuff."

"He's so mysterious," Lugum retorted, "and I want to have a little mystery too!"

He recalled not being able to know what was worse: Lugum admitting that she wanted to be 'mysterious like Flightly' or how she had already begun the change by taking all contractions out of her vocabulary. A blood-curdling, incredulous cry shocked Ago out of his reverie. Razor was, as he did often, getting upset. He shook his head clear of thoughts and leaned in, giving his attention to the zangoose harrassing the scyther.

Laceration tried to tell the rest of his story, fighting through his uncontrollable bursts of laughter. "A-and then Razor fell on his ass, and started screaming 'abnormal caterpie, retreat!' while doing the most _amazing _backwards butt-scoot I had ever seen. He _actually_ scooted faster than I could run, I swear to Arceus! Ha! He was like- hehe- 'I'm going blind now, Spikes, this is it for me!' Spikes walked in to check the brush he had found the caterpie in and... Spikes?"

The sandslash sighed, obviously not approving of how infuriated Razor was getting. "It was a wurmple." The zangoose gave a long-winded howl and fell over laughing. "Laceration, shut up already. Abnormalities in feral pokémon need the utmost attention an exploration team can give. Our team leader made the right choice." Razor smiled smugly at the guilty zangoose. "Although that butt-scoot was pretty stupid."

Razor scoffed. "Wouldn't need to be so worried when face-checking dens, if you had done your job in the dungeon the first time around." A deathly standoff commenced between the three members of Team Razor, each one glaring at the other. Ago rolled his eyes as Laceration began to actually growl at the other two, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed Flightly doing the same thing.

Lugum, busy working her shift, looked over at the standoff curiously. She took a few steps towards them, but then shrugged at Ago and skipped away. Clever girl. "Say, what is an abnormal caterpie?" Ago asked, trying to stop the tough-guy contest.

"An abnormal caterpie usually refers to a red-skinned variant of a normal caterpie," Spikes said without taking his eyes off of Razor, "and releases an air-born poison that will render you blind in minutes if you stay within its area. They are well-known because of their silk, which has powers in detoxification. Pecha scarves also act as an antivenin, but one must stuff the scarf into their mouth. For mammal species like all of us- excluding Flightly- we can also asphyxiate on too large a dose, so an antidote scarf is- _stop growling!" _

Shocked by the sudden outburst, both Razor and Laceration flew to the ground. Ago didn't really buy into Razor being team-leader, but Spikes assured him that distributing power worked differently in a dungeon. Since it was the wild where only the strong and instinctual survive, Razor's wild nature transformed him into a sagacious leader. "Ago," Laceration said, "tell Razor and Spikes that my story is funny."

"No!" Razor hissed, "tell them to leave it alone, and that I hypothetically saved their skins."

"As my student, Ago, I expect you to tell them that they are both idiots."

Ago really wished Lugum had come over. Desperately looking for a way out, Ago turned his attention to the pidgeotto. He gave a cruel smile as he asked: "what do you think... Flightly?"

"Do you really wish to know?" Flightly threatened. Ago nodded. Slowly, the pidgeotto ruffled through is satchel using his beak and took out a violet scarf. He twisted it around himself with three dramatic twirls of his head. Once done, he spread out his wings and looked upwards towards the roof. "I look _fabulous,_" he declared, "in an antivenom scarf!" The pikachu should have known that the bird would only play stupid- the selective intelligence he purported kept him out of trouble in almost every situation. Team Razor looked at each other again, but this time with the intention of seeing if the others knew what was going on.

Gastro walked up to them, throwing a curious look towards Flightly. "I think you're trying to impress the wrong side, Flightly." The bird quickly threw off the scarf and folded his wings up again. Ago smiled coyly as the bird "What is a city-pokémon running around with something like that, anyway?"

"I do not eat your food without it, mightyena," Flightly retorted, his feathers more than a little ruffled. "I know that you are the only chef down there, Gastro. This food cannot possibly be sanitary." The mightyena stood, appalled at the accusation.

He shook his head furiously. "_No, no, no!" _Gastro quickly hissed, trying to bring down the volume of the conversation, "my teeth are the cleanest in all of Orchidia. You're better off with my teeth than with some other cook's hands."

Flightly only chuckled. With a gesture of his wing, he invited everyone to lean in close. Team Razor, Ago, and Gastro all came in close, brought in by the fact that they were previously busy with eating this same food. After waiting for dramatic effect, Flightly whispered: "_how do you taste-test your food_?"

There was no denying it; Ago looked down at his small bowl of applesauce and became _extremely_ concerned with the answer.

But it seemed like there was nothing to worry about. "Lugum tries it all for me," the mightyena explained, "and I simply trust her opinion. What did you think?" He growled, "that I went and licked up all the food I'm sending out to my customers?"

"Well, uh, basically."

That also explained why Lugum never ate anything. She probably tested enough food here to stay full for the entire day. Which meant that she saved money on food... Ago wondered just how wealthy Lugum really was. All the furniture in her cave must be worth a small fortune. Entrapped by his musings on Lugum's wealth, he slowly let himself drop out of the group's conversation about how it was mean to assume things about others.

But before he could delve too far into the problem, there was suddenly a commotion occurring right in front of him. Lugum and the others were dragging a Gastro away. The mightyena was so paralyzed by shock that he turned into a stuffed statue as they moved him downstairs. He followed the poor chef's line of sight, his eyes widened and hopeless, to a nidoking waltzing through the door. A large troupe of pokémon lumbered in behind the nidoking. They were among the lines of Team Razor; violent species with tools to kill.

"Gastro, space for eighteen!" The nidoking chortled, looking around the restaurant. "Where are you, little guy? Come on, let's get out here?"

Instead, Lugum came scampering out from the basement level. She kept her face expressionless as she walked towards the crowd. Obviously, Gastro intended for her to send them away, based off of his reaction to the nidoking. The gargantuan pokémon bent down so that he could be in her face. "Now, don't tell me he is too afraid to come out and say hello! I just wanted to thank him once again for pardoning me."

The timid riolu backed away and made sure the only thing she saw was the ground. "Why not just leave him alone?" She asked, her voice hitting higher and higher octaves as her fear rose. "I-I think he gets it."

"If the little bastard feels like he has the power to 'pardon' me for something, I would assume he wants me to be around," the nidoking hissed. "So how about you go and get him, before one of my friends has to hurt that pretty little pelt of yours... do you understand? Are we speaking the same language?"

"T-the Ravenous Mightyena is closing up for the day. Gastro is too tired-"

"_Too tired to see Large Smash?!" _The nidoking howled. "You're in for a world of hurt today, Lugum, and we'll see how much you like this hiding bastard afterwards. You should have just let us through!" The Ravenous Mightyena wasn't very populated, since it was late into the afternoon, but those who were lunching late abandoned their food and began to move towards the outside of the room. "Grab her for me boys."

When a scraggy came forward to grab Lugum, he suddenly found a long, bladed arm resting on his outstretched arm. Ago had been so focused, he didn't even notice Team Razor leaving the kitchen. "Take a step closer, and there'll be trouble for all parties involved." It was painstakingly honest; Team Razor wasn't trained to fight sentient pokémon. Compared to ferals, Spikes had told him once, sentient pokémon fight with more moves that disable and disorient than maim and kill. This was because of the inherent desire to avoid becoming a feral.

Nonetheless, Laceration and Spikes backed their leader- and he definitely did appear more in charge than Ago had ever seen him- in his choice to defend Lugum. "Gastro told us everything you did," Spikes told Large Smash calmly, "and in any other circumstance, I would simply use this is an excuse to kill you in 'self defense'. Since this is his restaurant, and that I have no wish to get in the way of his filial devotion to letting you live in Treasure Town, I'll give you a single chance to walk away and take your group with you."

"Or," Spikes offered, "you can fight us and maybe kill us all, and watch as the pokémon you've scared shitless run out and get enough guild members to ensure that you and your lot of idiots die as well." The nidoking looked towards the sandslash with pure hate, remaining silent for a moment.

But for only a moment. Suddenly he began to laugh. "Say, do you think that buizel over there will see me as the bad guy if I paid him 20,000 poké? Or how about his life?"

The buizel, previously cowering in the corner, tried to stand strong. "N-no!"

"Please, don't act honorable just because these miserable shits are still alive You'll turn around on a dime. You, pikachu," Large Smash called out. Ago forgot that this wasn't some freaky nightmare that spawned out of his normal day. A situation had escalated to the point where the two sides were debating who would live and who would die. He was a part of it. The nidoking addressing him only exacerbated the situation; a solid goal to protect Ago in her mind, Lugum prepared to fight as well.

He didn't want to start something that would result in a bloodbath. "Why does it even matter?" He said slowly. "I don't know what you did, but if Gastro decided to let it go, maybe you should let it go-"

"_No one will presume to be better than me because they spared my life!_" Large Smash roared. "The bastard knows that he can't confront me, so he tries to slay me with guilt? _My ferals escaped and killed his parents! Come out here and try to spill my blood, you little shit! Get the fuck out here- urk!" __  
_

A streak of brown and violet flew by the nidoking, faster than anyone could react to. In an instant, Flightly perched himself atop the nidoking, using his violet antivenom scarf to lock his arms in place. "You do not wear the scarf nearly as well as I do," he noted calmly. "It is hard for a disgusting low-life like you to pull off anything other than innocent feral blood, I suppose. You should have said that you were a tamer when you came in, so I did not have to wait so long to bury my beak in your neck." Large Smash gave the smallest whimper in between his snarling attempts to remove the tangled scarf.

"Flightly, stop it! Gastro said not to!" Lugum yelled at the pidgeotto. Ago hated this. It reminded him of what the fight on the beach and Daté's encounter with the ghostly shade instilled in him: Treasure Town and Orchidia were deadly places. At the very least, the bear minimum of optimism, this only showed the true colors of the bird.

Flightly shook his head. "Who said I was doing it for him? I'm just a stupid feral an explorer caught and abused! _I am too stupid to realize that what I am doing is wrong! Is that not right, tamer?"_

As the furious pidgeotto tried to plunge his beak into the hide on the back of the nidoking's neck, a slow muttering came from the doorway. Gradually, the tense and overly-stressed pokémon in the restaurant realized that the strike was not coming. Instead, Flightly sat atop the nidoking with a far blanker stare than usual. "Yes, that does make sense," he mumbled back to the murmuring, "this is such a silly thing to do. Go to sleep? I can... do that." Everyone watched with surprise as the previously livid bird fell limply to the ground, asleep.

Without warning, all of the belligerent followers and their nidoking leader unanimously decided to sleep instead of fight.

Chatot came in afterwards, his feathers thoroughly ruffled. "Why, all the violence in this restaurant! I bet it rates very poorly." Ago thought to himself that he had finally figured out how this chatot became Commanding Officer. Did he really put down all twenty pokémon by himself? "Since I am pressed for time and merely wanted to obtain Lugum and Ago, I'll have to request from you, Team Razor, to quietly dispose of these pokémon." It was all so weird, this situation. But its being over was good enough for Ago. Someday, he may even figure what all of it was about.

"Like, kill them?!" Laceration cried out, appalled. "A little odd coming from you, but okay! I'll start on this side, Razor. You take out the-"

"No, idiot," Spikes sighed, "_dispose of them_ as in move them outside somewhere so they don't wake up and start something."

The Commanding Officer nodded. "I am sorry to do this to another guild's members, but if you kill a single one of them, I'll hold you accountable and personally ensure that you are promptly punished." After thinking for a second, the Chatot added "and if I hear that Razor attempted to 'help carry' one, and this one was 'mortally cut by his arms on accident', that too will get you in trouble." He smiled, happy with a job well done. "Now, Ago and Lugum, it is about time that we negotiate the terms of your contract."

Lugum stared at the chatot like a dolt. "C-contract?!"

"Yes. Guild Leader Wigglytuff thinks that you had enough time to recover, and that Ago has had enough time to get used to town." At least there would be some good that day, Ago concluded. They would finally be able to see some action outside of Treasure Town. And outside of Treasure Town, in Orchidia, all the answers he needed could be lying in wait.

But, of course, there had to be the one wrench thrown into every plan. The wrench in this plan came when Chatot pointed at the sleeping pidgeotto. He looked like a clueless fool, even in sleep. If he honestly admitted that he used to be a feral, it would make sense that all his empty head was filled with was hard words and pompous, sneaky insults. "And I want you to bring him with you... as a bird myself I cannot help but find his strategy- and background- overwhelmingly interesting."

Ago could barely refrain from cursing out loud.


	14. Beginning

Lugum didn't want to talk to Flightly, but while waiting for the Guild Master to receive them, the pidgeotto that dazzled her with his mystery now showed obvious signs of distress. Her fickleness got the better of her and made her upset with Flightly even when she intended to pardon his rash behavior. Never before in the three years she lived in Treasure Town had she found herself worrying about friends. The sheer fact that Flightly- and Ago, scowling at the pidgeotto from a spot at the end of the bench they sat on- was her friend... that was enough for her to refuse to look at Flightly as a murderer.

Chatot, after retrieving them from the terrible situation with Large Smash, sat them all down on a bitch on the first basement level of the guild.

When the pidgeotto checked her for changes in how she felt, Lugum found herself suddenly asking "why did you have to go and do that?" in a hoarse, unprepared voice. That reason, if anything, held her back from getting over the entire situation. The way he expertly twisted his scarf about the nidoking and threatened him, which in turn jeopardized over two dozen lives, for a chance at revenge; Lugum hoped that it was more than basic greed.

Flightly relieved his shifting about, now that Lugum decided that she would finally talk to him. He had obviously been thinking about the answer. "Well, Lugum, it may be contributed to the fact that everything happened so quickly... and I also made my situation with tamers well-known for everyone in the Ravenous Mightyena..." a ragged sigh escaped past his beak. "Just, I am not like you or other town pokémon, okay? I act on impulse and can barely restrain my instincts. Sometimes, I wonder if I even have emotions... or if I simply adapted to hunting a different field."

"That's so stupid!" Lugum retorted angrily, "Shut up!" With a shake of Flightly's head and a cynical scoff, Lugum began to regret even asking him. How could he even dare to allege that everything he did was just a new set of instincts for surviving Treasure Town? "Agh, why are you so set on hurting my feelings?" She accused, poking his chest with her paw. "Stop it, already..."

An incredulous Flightly skipped a step over from his previous perch on the bench. "_What?!_ This is about me- how are you possibly getting insulted from how I feel about _my life_?" Lugum always noticed how tightly his wings were folded, but now they ruffled noisily as he tried to compress himself inside of them. "It feels great to let everyone know that I am feral, and that I have no true feelings. In fact, I most likely only started this conversation so that I could get potential dangers like you out of my life."

Lugum got up and stood on top of the bench as well, so that she could stand on eye-level with the rude pidgeotto. Before, Flightly's words hurt her. Now, they began to piss her off. "I'll knock you right off this bench, e-even if I do get in trouble with the Wigglytuff Guild. And then, if that didn't knock some sense into you... I'll keep hitting you until finally agree that what we have is something very special!"

The bird let out air as if punched in the gut. Slowly he inched closer to Lugum and breathed out "something... very special?"

Ago groaned. "She's talking about your friendship with her, you fucking moron." Lugum knew that it was probably very wrong to say what she said next, but when she saw how disappointed and withdrawn Flightly looked afterwards... she couldn't help but quickly stammer:

"N-no." Ago nearly fell off the bench trying to get a better look at her. The longer the comment floated in silence, however, the more its lack of confidence showed. Now, the disappointed bird scowled, his eyes full of hurt.

"Lugum," Flightly growled, "you're just as desperate for friends as I am to survive."

She shook her head viciously. "No, I really mean it! Believe me!"

"I'm supposed to just trust you?"

Ago shot up, and the conversation took a turn for a worse. "How are you supposed to trust her? Lugum doesn't go around _spying _on pokémon."

That couldn't be right. "Ago," Lugum asked, "what do you mean?"

The bench creaked as the pidgeotto jumped over. With his wings spread out belligerently, he looked as if he towered over the pikachu. "Yes, what do you mean, Ago? Lugum, you shouldn't trust this pikachu, wherever you may have found him. There's something odd about him-"

"Have any narcoleptic episodes recently? I haven't seen them in a while," Ago growled. Flightly folded his wings in immediately and backed off. The regretful gaze thrown back at Lugum caused her to sit back down and stare forward. Was it all really a trick? "This is supposed to be Lugum's big day," the pikachu said to the guilty pidgeotto, "and now, she has to deal with the fact that you're just playing a sick game with her. The game is up, Flightly- I can't believe I let this go on for two weeks."

Flightly jumped down and walked in front of Lugum. "I... I was just a little curious about who you really are. I am... so sorry, to think that you were lying when you said that we could be more than friends. Trust... does not come quickly to me." Suddenly, he grew irate. "Damn it, I told you just now that this is what I am like! _Why aren't you listening?"_ Flightly breathed heavily, the conflict between his past and the present- a chronically fresh wound-

"You could have asked," Lugum muttered. "And pretending like you don't know how you feel is a very stupid excuse. You attacked Large Smash, yes. But not because you are a bad or stupid pokémon... you wanted to do the right thing." She hopped off the bench and wrapped her arms around Flightly. "You must be really lonely, is all. I am too- it's why I said those things... it's alright now, though..." the pidgeotto tried to say something, but stopped. He only nodded into her shoulder.

Ago started to pull her off of him. "For fuck's sake, Lugum! He just admitted to manipulating you, and you're just too scared to let someone go. If you know that, why do you still want him around?"

The hallow noise of the Commanding Officer hopping up the stairs told Lugum that she didn't have long to explain. "Well, I feel..." she smiled happily. "I think that I'm a mistake- like my birth and who I am... but now, I think that it turned out for the better! Eventually, Flightly will figure out if he really cares or not. This is good for all of us." Ago didn't seem like he bought it, but he at the very least didn't attempt to lay the bird flat.

Thankfully, the satchels hanging on Chatot's wings caught their attention. "Hello, you three! Who's ready to explore?!"

Lugum jumped up. "I am! I am!" The world past the common pastures near the town limits mystified her. She was too curious to think about anything else other than seeing that world. The other two, however, weren't mystified enough to not start arguing.

"Chatot," Ago pleaded, "you've made a mistake, right? We didn't ask for Flightly to be on our team." Her arms akimbo, Lugum gave him her best glare. If the Commanding Officer thought that Flightly should go, then they shouldn't question him. But, reconsidering that, Flightly didn't look so excited either.

"I understand, Flightly, that this is a conflict of interest for you," Chatot explained, "but I can't offer a provisional test license to them with only two members. With Ago acting as a guide, and Lugum filling in the duty of face-checking, they would still need backup and management. Something tells me that you would be good at knowing how to survive."

The pikachu wasn't going to let in just yet, however. "W-what about Gastro, Lu? Do you want him to come along?" Throwing the chef into a mystery dungeon was only a little more terrifying than Lugum's realization that he would most likely do it. She grunted out a _no_. Or maybe... Zube? He's pretty tough, and I used to have the wound on my back to prove it!" Now it was just getting silly. "The b-buizel from the restaurant showed some bravery-"

"Enough," Flightly coughed out, "I will go with them. Whether or not I stay on- which I guess really isn't my choice- I lay in the hands of the two real members of their team. Plus... without the ability to fly... this could be my chance to really free myself from the confines of this town." When the bird looked back at Lugum, she smiled approvingly. Wanting to be free

At that, Chatot threw down the two bags. "Fantastic! Inside the left bag is all the materials you need to record features of the Beach Cave. In the right are some of the proper provisions for three, moderated trips. In order to become a true exploration team, you must enact a three day charting mission of the Beach Cave. If you record the information about the dungeon properly, then you will be able to go to the mutual end of the dungeon and open up a psychically locked box we have left for you. If your answers to its questions are correct, it will open up and give you the proof you need to join. You'll have a week to make all three of your expeditions. Good luck!" Without another word, or further explanation, the chatot hopped away.

"What's a 'mutual end'?" Lugum asked. "Or charting? Or-"

"It's okay, Lu. I know what he is talking about," Ago assured. "It's all a little confounded, to be honest. Is this a game or something?" Comforted by Ago's assurances, Lugum picked up the bags and ran for the exit of the Wigglytuff Guild. Flightly sighed, exhausted from having himself become so exposed. Before he could go on, however, Ago gripped his wing, dragging him back. "She's very idealistic, huh?" Ago whispered.

"Very much so. It surprised me when she embraced me- literally and figuratively."

He let go of the bird's wing. "Well, don't disappoint her. I don't think I will need to do much if you decide to really piss her off."

"I will see what I can do," Flightly replied condescendingly- if with the smallest hint of acceptance and respect for Lugum's strength.

"Well... let's get going, I guess." With that, the two went and followed the overly-excited riolu who was already making her way down the hill.


	15. Exploring

The two had to play a serious game of catch-up to reach the overzealous riolu, who ran all the way from the guild to the beach. Her plan was obvious; she wanted to get one of their expeditions out of the way the very moment after they received their mission. When Ago and Flightly, sandy and winded from their sprint, finally met up with her, she threw up an arm and pointed to the large mouth of a cave. The pikachu could nearly hear the echoes coming from the Beach Cave, which embedded itself in the cliff- much like the Wigglytuff Guild tower.

"Lugum, stop being so headstrong," Ago chastised. "Do you really think that it is a good idea to just run in there without any preparation?" Spikes told him, a long time ago, that Lugum's wish to be an explorer was a highly lethal decision for the riolu. With this kind of attitude, Ago could definitely see her making a huge mistake- and with all Spikes taught him in the way of a dungeon's dangers, he shuddered at the mere thought of the consequences.

She passionately pointed above the cave, to the top of the cliff. "Do you know what's up there?" She asked them. "That's the trail out of Treasure Town... and I want to be up there right now. All we have to deal with is this... and Orchidia is our playground!" The sand irritated Ago's eyes, and he casually wiped them while waiting for Lugum to realize how silly that sounded. "Damn it! I can't stay here any longer, it will make me go crazy."

To Ago, it was the first time he had even heard something even remotely negative about Treasure Town from Lugum. "Buy furniture, work at the restaurant, hit some wooden posts and leap over pits, and run circles- that's my life as of now. Even after the grate... things stayed the same but I've patiently waited for them to change. Well I'm telling you now: you go with me into the cave, or you will hand me the supplies and I'll do it myself."

This was a seriously bad idea. Desperate for any kind of support, Ago turned to the quiet pidgeotto at his side. The bird-brain shrugged his wings. "If Team Leader Lugum commands that we take a stroll through the cave now, then I think we have to listen." Ago glared at the manipulative prick; if he was still playing a game, trying to get on Lugum's good side... Ago willed Arceus to help the poor bird once he learned how to harness electricity.

"Ooh!" Lugum cried out, insanely pleased with Flightly. "_Team Leader Lugum!_ It's too exciting, Ago. We have to go! Please, please, _pl-ee-ase?!_"

Outnumbered and outlasted, Ago finally relented. "Fuck, fine. It's our funeral." He romped forward angrily, picking up the bag with the guide's supplies contained within. Just as Spikes described, there were a few boards for writing, a charcoal tool, a compass, and various devices that could record all the minuscule details of a mystery dungeon- from the sand's temperature to the color of the walls. With a great throw, he pelted Flightly with the other bag. "I hope you know what to do with that."

"Why wouldn't I know?" Flightly retorted, slipping on the bag.

Lugum clapped her paws together. "Alright!" She cheered. "What do I get?"

Hopefully, Lugum would take the upcoming news well. "Uh, Lugum, you are the face-checker. Meaning... you sort of go into places first, right?" The riolu nodded excitedly. "and then, if there is a feral- or ferals- lying in wait..." she gestured for him to continue. "You... hit them a lot so they don't get to us."

The riolu remained silent, a distraught look taking over her face. "What... did I do... to deserve the best job?!" The pikachu smiled, not knowing what he expected from the fairly simple-to-read riolu. "Golly, I hope I don't die..." Flightly gave her a queer look. "I mean, I've thought about the situation with the grate... I feel like it would happen again if I got wounded bad. So just let me take front and center." Starting on that morbid note, Lugum waved for them to come with her into the cave. The observation left Ago in a painful state of consternation. He didn't want Lugum to be so willing to die, just because she could.

When they entered, Ago quickly pulled out the writing boards. The only thing given was on the top board, which simply stated the composition of the dungeon. '_Simple path to inner sanctum- mutual end located therein'. _A 'mutual end' signified the end of the dungeon, and a place where separate entities in the dungeon could once again return to the same path. Dungeons are dynamic, and the instance a team enters covered them from other team's- a more unexplored aspect of the dungeon. "Looks like it's just a straight walk forward."

"I am not thoroughly entitled to care for your enjoyment, but you should probably look up from your boards, Ago." A little flustered, Ago looked up to catch a glimpse of what power could possibly sway Lugum to yearn for the outside world. The Beach Cave widened after its dark entrance, into a large tunnel that flickered with the dark blue of reflected water. The pure lakes stemmed from the side, falling from the darkened edges of the huge cave. There were so many bodies of water that the path nearly looked like a land-bridge. One that could disappear at any second. Without willing himself to, Ago began to write all of his observations down; he had to be convinced that what he was looking at wasn't the creation of a dream.

In front of him, Lugum seemed even more engrossed and moved by the sight. "O-Orchidia is so beautiful," she stammered, walking over to a body of water. Before either of her teammates had a chance to stop her, she stooped down and drank from the beautifully shining pool. "Arceus," she called out in a near-sob, her paw still in the water, "The water tastes fantastic- and it's so cool! Who would miss out on this? Flightly, Ago, come down and her and taste the wat-_ah!" _Without any warning, Lugum was suddenly wrenched to the ground when her arm sank into the water. Her face pushed up against the cold stone of the cave as she attempted to free herself before whatever grabbed her had its way.

To Lugum's intense credit, she didn't react nearly in the way Ago expected the jumpy riolu to. Calmly, she got her legs under her and skittered back. A shellder, angry and clamped on her arm, fought furiously to get her back into the water. "Look," she said to the guide, "see how it tried to pull me in and drown me? I wonder if the water tastes good just so they can do that!" She stared at the shellder, slightly concerned. "How do I get it off of me?"

"Try hitting it on something," Flightly suggested. Since Lugum wasn't in any immediate danger, Ago quickly went back to writing down everything he had seen. Definitely, if the riolu hadn't the strength to get on her legs, she would be dead and drowned at the bottom of a deep pool of tasty water. A minute later, the other two finally gave up on releasing it. "Uh, I think that this is an issue that may only be sorted out _after_ we exit the cave."

The riolu shrugged. "It doesn't hurt or anything. Maybe it will get bored!" So far, the dungeon showed no reason for the trio to consider it anything more than a fun, eye-opening walk. "Oh no," Lugum groaned, "what if I turn into a slowking? I heard that happens when a shellder clamps onto you."

Ago sighed. "I really, _really_ doubt it Lugum." They tried to stay aware of their surroundings, but eventually the small wariness they fought to keep faded away. They talked- and argued- about shellder, about the cave, and about every other thing they could think of. There was a trace amount of disappointment growing in Lugum, Ago noticed, and he chalked it up to the fact that this wasn't a very exciting first dungeon. It also turned out to be a _very_ long cave- spanning what seemed to be nearly half a mile underground.

When a small ripple caused the pidgeotto to twirl around and spread his wings, and Lugum to throw up her arms in defense, the pikachu felt a little embarrassed. Apparently, he had really been the only one truly not worried. "There is someone in there!" Flightly warned, dropping behind Lugum.

"Oh! What do we do?" They gave her a minute to figure it out. "Oh, right. Face-checker. Hehe, what a f-fun task to have." Slowly, she sneaked towards the ripples. "P-probably another shellder. Or a k-k-kabuto, which I heard appear in this dungeon- I was there for Team Razor's early days. They had a lot of fun fighting the kabuto-"

"Lugum, pay attention," Ago pleaded. If there existed a better way to explore than face-checking every lethal trap and danger, Ago would trade his life for it. No matter what came next, Lugum was going to get attacked. It fried his nerves down to the core, and made him panic. He didn't even know how to fight! He couldn't box like Lugum, or jump around like Flightly... he was totally fucked! He winced as his claw slipped off of the board. The squeeze he put on it was so hard he ended up stabbing his own hand.

But the danger could yet turn out to be nothing, as Lugum got nearly to the edge of the water. No ambush had arisen; they were in the clear. "Wow, I wonder if it was just us hearing things," Lugum breathed. She inched over the edge of the water, the shellder still dangling from her right arm. When she finally looked down into the depths of the pool, her eyes widened with horror. "_Get back! There's something in the-" _

Ago dropped to the ground out of shock as a kabutops flashed out of the water, uppercutting the riolu. With three deft spins giving the pokémon momentum, it smashed its sharp sickle-arms into Lugum's face. The ground where she landed cracked from the smashing blow. A blow like that could easily decapitate the riolu. She would have trouble reviving from that. "_Fuck!" _Ago screamed out, "_Lugum?! Are you alright?_"

Shreds of exploded shellder rained on them as Lugum rolled to her feet, nearly falling over in the process. The kabutops chuckled as he landed, a sickle still pointed at the riolu. "You smart, oh-hoh, you smart!" He shouted at her. "You puts a shellder on yer arm and I hit it! Bye, shellder!"

Now, Flightly backed up as well. "What? Why is he speaking?"

"Developed ferals," Spikes had warned him, "may be found in dungeons. Usually it is a great honor to indoctrinate one, and see if they can become more cultured under a guild's licensed guidance. But, if that cannot be done, you are left with an intelligent foe, who has survived the exploration of many teams- enough to learn fragments of language. Their addiction to survival and battle makes it almost impossible to reason with them, unless one can display that they have the upper hand." This was bad; Chatot wouldn't knowingly send them to a kabutops, so this pokémon was both developed and abnormal.

"You little coward!" Lugum screamed. She seemed more panicked and terrified than angry. But that changed as she fully recovered. "Come at me where I can see you, punk! I'll give you the good old one-two!"

The kabutops readied its sickles. "Dumb riolu, she no run... now she is dead!" With a few steps, the developed feral covered the distance between them. Lugum quickly smashed away an attack from his right, but the left was soon hurtling towards her. Ago closed his eyes before the bloody impact, but a weird _chink_ sounded off instead. "Huh?" The kabutops grunted.

How he never noticed the metal plates in the back of Lugum's arms before, he couldn't fathom. With the element of surprise now on her side, Lugum flew forward, shooting a paw into the kabutops head. Before it could get an arm up in defense, Lugum swung her leg out in a sweeping arc in the middle of a tiny arc, allowing her to get away before the kabutops could reply. Even with the head start, however, Lugum found herself on the defense again. Sickle after sickle attempted to sever her limbs. An unexpected over head strike forced Lugum to a crouch, her arm-plates shaking under the point of the sickle.

_"Am... I... the only one here?"_ She shouted out desperately. Ago watched in horror as Lugum began to lose the struggle, her arms slowly allowing the point to come near her eyes. He couldn't do anything except stare! No matter how much Ago tried, he couldn't shoot out lightning, or gather up the courage to claw the kabutops.

But there was at least one useful pokémon with them. As the kabutops drove his sickle forward for the kill, A shining wing quickly scooped up the blade. "No bother!" The kabutops howled with frustration. Flightly, his wings glowing, deflected the strike from the developed feral's right arm. He fold his wings tightly, locking down his arms. With a bloodthirsty squawk, Flightly tore into the kabutops with his beak. The crunches sickened Ago to his stomach. Lugum sat down with relief.

"_No! I take her with me!" _The now-mortally-wounded kabutops screeched. Breaking free, he kicked away Flightly. With a final throw of his right arm, he plunged the blade into Lugum's shoulder, pinning them together. She shouted out in surprise and pain, trying to break free before the left arm finished the job.

Ago didn't know how he got on top of the kabutops, but he got there. With a lackluster battle-cry, he plunged the charcoal instrument into the kabutop's neck and wrenched him off of Lugum. The wind flew out of him as he landed on his back. "Lu," he said breathlessly, "are you okay? Please..."

The riolu moved over the dead kabutops with her right arm. "I'm fine," she grunted through a grimace. "I think..."

Although it had only been a fleeting kick, it had put Flightly into a limp. "Fuck," Ago cursed needlessly. "Fuck!"

The pidgeotto lifted his head. "I hear more coming from the end of the cave. Do we fight or do we stay, Team Leader Lugum?"

"We... figh- ah!" Ago didn't give a shit what Lugum though. He jumped up and searched the provisions bag until he found a bluish-purple orb- an escape orb. With a single command, their first day in the beautiful-yet-deadly Beach Cave ended in near-tragedy.


	16. Meeting

Now, back in the shelter of Sharpedo Bluff, their careless exploration of the Beach Cave transformed into something far worse than it already was. Ago didn't think of himself as a weakling, but the deadly situation with the kabutops rattled him to the very core. On a nearby couch with real flowers pressed into the stitching, Lugum and Flightly spoke and ate vivaciously, and Ago just didn't get it. When a small laughing fit broke out between them, Ago decided that he had enough.

"Does it even bother you?!" He found himself snapping out. They both turned to the pikachu with faces that reeked of sympathy- he was conspicuously unable to handle this new stress, and they knew he was struggling. "We almost died, and that kabutops and that shellder... the way that the shellder _exploded_ into bits and pieces... how are you comfortable with seeing shit like that?" He shuddered at the mere conjuring of the shellder's death in his mind.

Lugum crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back. "Don't know. I always kind of thought that I've killed before, sometime before I came to Treasure Town. I mean, it's not like the ferals and the guilds sign wavers to go easy on each other." While the latter part certainly held some trace of reason, Ago couldn't believe Lugum just admitted to killing before.

A sagacious nod came from the pidgeotto. "I have not killed before this, Ago, but I can forgive myself since I understand why I must. We spread our dens and our forests out and prescribe rules to them, but it is a forest nonetheless. If we stray outside, we must be prepared to play to nature's whim. If we resist it or refuse to play, then we place ourselves in dire danger."

The bandage around Lugum's punctured shoulder wiggled about as Lugum senselessly rubbed it. The mystery dungeon shifted Ago's image of an awkward, well-intended riolu into something slightly more brutish. "Lu, what do you mean? If you are sixteen, and thirteen when you got in Treasure Town... really? From the young of an age?"

"Uh, yeah. Not the best thing to be proud of, huh? Anyway, I'm not so sure... so whatever." Lugum smiled and picked up an apple. After seeing the wound up close- a sickle that went in one side and out the other- he pleaded for Lugum to visit Asabi at the Wigglytuff Guild. But the riolu, possibly embarrassed that they couldn't reach the end of the dungeon, told him that she didn't need it. According to her, pokémon recovered at startlingly fast rates if they could eat lavishly while doing so.

To Ago's great disgust, Flightly chose that moment to complain about not having any food with them during their exploration. After describing the various ways they would have needed to cannibalize the ferals in the case they remained, Ago decided to take a much-warranted break outside of the cave. In between dry-heaves, Ago cursed his torn perspective of Orchidia. On one hand, he couldn't bear to part with it. On the other, it wanted furiously to part with him.

It was a sure bet that Flightly only did it to bother him. But a larger danger lied underneath the harassment; the more clueless the pikachu appeared about his own kind, the more curious the nosy pidgeotto became. This meant a few snide comments on the side now, but this feral could eventually start making real accusations on Ago's origins. He hated the idea of it, but the time came during that break outside that Ago realized that the only winning move against Flightly was to get on his good side. Lugum gave him the hope he needed to pull through with it.

"Well, uh, sorry for bringing it up," Ago apologized. It didn't matter, however; Lugum was already too focused on her apple. Moving before his body locked up, he quickly grabbed a small knife on the table and began to cut up an apple. "I know that you said you were fine," Ago said to Flightly, "but it couldn't have felt good to have your wings beaten on by a sickle. You should eat."

Flightly stared at the chopped-up apples, probably wondering if it was poisoned. "Thank... you?" He replied. Slowly, he picked up a piece with his beak and swallowed. After he decided that it wasn't killing him, he scooped another and kept it in his mouth. "No gag reflex," he mentioned, "makes for a boring meal if you eat too quickly. Being in the dungeon made me realize that taking time to really taste your food is important really is the right thing to do."

Ago leaned in. "Who said it wasn't?"

"... someone I knew a long time ago."

The pikachu wanted to cringe when Lugum slid an arm over Flightly's back, as if the deadly feral needed coddling. From the sheer expression of his regret, done through his sighs and the downturn of his eyes, Ago nearly bought into it. "Don't leave it at that," Lugum implored. "Who were they?"

Flightly shook his head. "It is not important, anymore. She is dead and gone now."

It was foolish to think that he could be more stubborn than Lugum, but he was trying nonetheless. "Come on," Lugum said, "you got all bummed out when Ago asked-"

"_It... is... not important. Please," _Flightly hissed, trying to use his intimidating stature to scare Lugum away from the subject. A disapproving frown covered the riolu's face as she slid her arm out from behind the pidgeotto. They sat in silence and in the silence came a change of heart as Flightly turned to Lugum hopefully. "I shall tell you some day, in private." Sticking to his mission to get on Flightly's good side, Ago kept his mouth shut about the obvious exclusion. He wondered if Lugum was struggling to keep her mouth shut as well.

Her restraint compared poorly to Ago's, however. "Just one little thing?" She proposed.

The two deserved this, at least. "Her name was Spell," Flightly said shortly. Afterwards, he swallowed the apple resting in his mouth and hopped towards the door. "It is getting late, and I want to return home before it is too dark." As he pulled the latch to the door, he turned back and smiled. "Thank you, by the way, for accepting me so readily. I await the next time we will enter the Beach Cave. I... am glad to have met the both of you. After he left, Lugum and Ago found themselves without anything to talk about.

"Sorry for scaring you so much," Lugum said in order to break the silence. "I promise that we won't go into the dungeon tomorrow, if you can promise me something in return."

"Uh, sure," Ago agreed. Anything to postpone entering the dungeon, allowing him time to prepare.

With a grunt, Lugum ripped off her bandage, which at that point only covered a red, fur-less welt. "We won't go to the Beach Cave if you go to Asabi and figure out why you can't use your electric-type attacks."

Ago didn't know what to say. "H-how did you know?"

She flashed a coy grin at the pikachu. "Because if you could use them, you would have helped me!" Hearing that Lugum knew that he wanted her safe was enough to go into the check-up. With the day off acting as icing on the cake, Ago was too overwhelmed with Lugum's kindness to fear the dungeon or whatever may come from his check-up.

"Yeah," Ago laughed. "And charcoal styluses don't grow on trees! I'll do it." The idea of a charcoal tree set Lugum into a laughing fit, and for that moment Treasure Town- and Orchidia as a whole- was the paradise he knew it to be.

* * *

Flightly looked at the small, dingy shack he called his home. Home was really what laid under the rotted wood and depressing furniture, in the soil. An old garden that he knew had to be the product of Spell's amazing gardening. The lantern lighting the front of his home showed some of the still-scarred pieces of her getaway place. When he arrived in Treasure Town years ago to confirm the rumors of her passing, the faint smell of berries brought him to the small patch. He knew it was hers... and he couldn't abandon the place.

Eventually, what he called his childhood gang- Zube and Choke- found him one day, building the small hut out of wood scraps he found in the forest. Neither of them wanted to leave Flightly behind, so they settled down. A soft creak clued in that one of those two friends were waiting for him.

"Zube," Flightly called out to the hut, "I know you are sulking in there. Come on out." He breathed in deeply, as hard as possible, so he could get the taste of the garden in his mouth. Replacing the fresh smell was a familiar, putrid stench. Immediately, Flightly spread out his wings, ready to blow away any toxic gasses. "Calor, I hope that this is not your attempt at hiding. You reek far too much."

A lumbering skuntank swaggered out of Flightly's hut, his vicious grin still etched into Flightly's mind. Zube followed close behind him, his wing now recovered and free. Calor- the skuntank that Flightly used to steal and intimidate for after Spell disowned him. He was like a father, then, but now his presence at Spell''s garden only enraged the pidgeotto. "Whoa-hoh?!" He shouted, "is that how you treat your pap, after years apart? Now that just breaks my heart." All he could do was look away as the skuntank came in close and try to recall the smell of the garden as the fetid pokémon puffed air into his face.

"You know what also makes me sad?" Calor asked. "Zube here told me that he was viciously and mercilessly attacked by a riolu. And you seem to think that it is a good idea to befriend the beast?"

The zubat shrunk down under the presence of the 'pap'. "T-that's not how I said it at all, Calor-"

"Silence, boy. You're too young as of yet to know what viciousness looks like." Zube scampered away before the skuntank's tail whipped him. "You _will_ have respect for those who raised you, like I have respect for you. There is no way I'm letting an able-bodied, well-tempered spirit ignore his friends because of some dead bayleef."

Flightly glared at the boss of his childhood gang with chilled fury. "Take that back, _now._"

More retched breaths came down on him as the skuntank laughed in his face. "Look at you- you have become so pathetic! You want to know what her biggest mistake was? She taught you too damn well. If you were a dumb little shit like Zube or I am, then this whole mess'd be a lot simpler." The pidgeotto refused to let down his rigid glare. "You're not some crazed feral, smartass. You're letting some riolu who reminds you of Spell get in the way of that again. Are you sure this one won't disown you?"

That did it. With a furious squawk, Flightly flung himself at the skuntank. But experience, weight, and cunning was on the heavy pokémon's side. Noxious fumes smacked the pidgeotto in the face, sickening him instantly. The skuntank caught the dazed bird with a foot. "You care so much about this crap, you're attacking pap!" Calor reprimanded. "Zube, tell me this isn't crazy! How'd you let him live above the brat's stupid fucking garden?" Flightly roared and broke free, his breathing erratic as he heaved his way through the gas.

"W-want to see how much I _care?" _Flightly asked Calor as he hopped over to the house. Using guttural shouts to will himself through the act, Flightly swiped the warm lantern off of the hook and into his beak. "_I care... this much!" _With one final roar, Flightly smashed the lantern into the center of his home, creating a small blaze that quickly turned into a full-blown inferno. The smells of the garden would forever remain hidden under burnt wood. A small whine escaped his throat as he backed away to admire his decision- all he had of Spell was gone... all gone...

But with the smell of the garden, Calor's stench disappeared as well. The skuntank nuzzled himself against the distraught pidgeotto. "Your pap is proud, and he is real sorry that he forced you to do this. And, out of that third person shit, I am plain happy that the instant I find you, I put you on the right track. Now, all you have to do is break ties with that riolu, and you can find yourself again. I'll be seeing you around, Flightly. Remember that pap did it because he loves you."

Love. Flightly hated the word because it ended his time with Spell. That single word, even so it came from a feral that the bayleef herself raised, made her scared enough to turn herself in for taming. She called him beastly, crazed, addicted... wasn't that love, though? Like Lugum had said to him, it was supposed to start with flaws... even ones so large as the apparent lack of its authenticity.

The uninvited and thoroughly speedy reunion with Calor really did set him on the right track.

With his home burnt to the ground, Flightly knew that he was free to live with Lugum.

* * *

**Thank you to all those who have read all sixteen chapters! If you have enjoyed the story so far, feel free to let me know. Most of the chapters are made in a window that is an hour and a half, so if you think that you've caught on to a plot-hole or major error, I would like to know about that too. **


	17. Fulfilling

"_What?!" _Lugum cried out in shock, "your house _burnt down? _How in Orchidia did that happen?" In response, Flightly only shrugged. She began to pace about the entrance of the Ravenous Mightyena, extremely worried for the poor bird. "Where did you even sleep?" He gestured behind him with his head. Next to the entrance to the Ravenous Mightyena were a few sheets which made the riolu frown. From what she knew about bird pokémon, sleeping on one's side was a great shame. The embarrassment on his face seemed to confirm this.

"You dumb bird!" She chastised, "I don't even have work today- you're lucky that I was on my way back from taking Ago to the Wigglytuff Guild, or I'd have never found you. Wait a minute... have you been _crying?_ Why didn't you come back to the-"

"_Calm down,"_ Flightly begged, "_please."_ A lombax pushed his way between the two, knocking them back a few steps. The pidgeotto glared at the hungry pokémon for a second but eventually came back to Lugum. "Do you seriously think I care about sleeping outside? I was only trying to make conversation- you _did_ ask me how I slept. I will rummage around today, since Ago is at the guild anyway. I am sure that I can find some shelter, somewhere..."

It didn't take long for Flightly to bring in Lugum. In an instant, the riolu was nervously rubbing her paws together. "You... you could always live at Sharpedo Bluff, for a while..."

Flightly chuckled. "Are you sure you have enough furniture to accommodate all the people you are inviting into your home?" The riolu laughed nervously, and the pidgeotto knew why. The pikachu she had just taken to the doctors was going to be pissed off out of his mind when he found out. "Sure, Lugum. I really appreciate this." It was almost impossible to contain his excitement; now, he would have even more time to watch the riolu. He was determined to prove Calor wrong, that Lugum was nothing like Spell.

He almost felt bad, however, for how guilty the riolu became. Obviously, Ago had went to great lengths to make sure this exact situation didn't happen. "With Daté still gone for a month and a half," she said halfheartedly, "I'm sure that there will be more than enough _furniture." _With the threats she faced in the Beach Cave yesterday remembered by her aching shoulder, Lugum could only pray to Arceus that Daté would survive an exploration mission with real dangers.

Just thinking about the Beach Cave, though, got her into a fighting spirit. When the only other option was to stick on the subject of Flightly's homelessness, she fully embraced the welcome change of mood. "Hey, just don't worry about it, alright? Stuff happens- and we've got way more important stuff to be thinking about!" She patted the new leather satchel containing their provisions. "There's about 2000 poké in here, and I was on my way to the Kecleon Brothers to buy some things. Did you want to come with me?"

The Kecleon Brothers held a near-monopoly on all general exploration merchandise. On days where Lugum could never seem to find something to do, she would go and look at their wide range of accessories and medicines. Until recently they sponsored every guild, making large and bountiful transactions with the wealthy businesses. But that had changed drastically in recent times, and Flightly knew it. "Oh, are you sure that is a safe place to go?" He asked, "Did you not hear about their scandal with their new line of performance-enhancers?"

"The jellies they were trying to sell a few months back?" Lugum replied. She didn't quite know the full details- one day two months ago she found their main shop downsized and the Kecleon Brothers sad and exhausted. "What ever happened with that?"

"Some young children stole some thinking that they were your typical candy." He sighed, obviously not a fan of the Kecleon Brother's product. "And a few days later, they all contracted pokérus. They became much stronger, as expected... but they cannot use abilities related to their type's affinity anymore. They paid exorbitantly to cover up their tracks, but... _someone_ came along and made sure that they paid."

Lugum couldn't believe that the Kecleon Brothers had the potential to be so reckless. "But surely it can't be that bad, right? For some of them, at least..."

In response Flightly only shook his head. "One of the children afflicted is a smoochum. She will never have access to the most crucial aspects of her psychic abilities, and evolving- the only cure for pokérus- will only make the poor child dangerous and angry. Most likely, I foresee a bad, criminal future that this disease will force her into. That is how it works... imagine if you never had neither the ability to sense auras nor use them aggressively. Does that seem _not so bad?_" Flightly was getting a little heated about the entire ordeal, it seemed.

The riolu turned her head to the side, curious. "What's an aura?"

The pidgeotto's beak opened wide at Lugum's innocent question. An aura was something completely new to her, whose only memories of time with her own species cultivated themselves in confusing nightmares. "How do you not even know... can you see anything? Like, small releases of energy, that you can manipulate? Any, er, ripples, for example? Am I happy or sad right now?"

"You're weird, that's what you are! Just let it go, alright?" Even as she said it, though, Lugum's mind found itself trapped under the implications that this 'aura' brought. What if the lucario in her forgotten village... she clamped her mouth shut, as if it could stop all the thoughts going through her mind. Nonetheless, it only made her consider stupid ideas. "And you really made me lose my appetite to go shopping- but then again, I bet you hate stuff like that."

Finally, Flightly took the riolu's advice to hear and 'let it go'. He gave a wry grin. "No, that is not true at all. Come, let me show you this merchant in the main square that only sells silken attire." From under the sheet by the entrance to the Ravenous Mightyena, Flightly pulled out his violet scarf. "If we are lucky, we may find you something that matches this!" The riolu giggled as he tossed the antivenin scarf at her. "Oh, how impolite of me to forget. How did _you_ sleep, Lugum?"

The only answer to that was an excited "fantastic!" Lugum worked the scarf over in her paws curiously. "It's strange. Ever since Daté left, I've had the best nights of sleep in a very long time- except they are still very lonely... I was really excited to get to know him. I hope his mission with Team Raider is going okay..."

* * *

"Fuck me!" Daté hissed out as tongues of flame smacked into his shoulder, setting him aflame for what had to be the twentieth time that day. He quickly threw his fire-resistant scarf over the flames, resisting the urge to cry out and attract more of the fire types. Why did it have to be inside a _volcano?_ Why not somewhere peaceful, like a meadow or a nice lake? "I hope you enjoyed that, magmar," he said to the feral preparing another fire attack. "I'm about done letting it happen."

Another round of flames came spewing out of the magmar's mouth, threatening to incinerate the grovyle. Sweltering heat smacked Daté's face as he side-stepped the attack and shot himself forward, running parallel to the fire. With a swift strike he smacked the magmar's head the other direction, relieving him of the painful flames. As the feral attempted to clumsily swipe at him, Daté had to make a quick call.

He made it. Hiking up his satchel, he twisted his body and slammed it over the magmar's head. The feral fell to the ground, unable to recover from the disorienting blow. The grovyle chuckled and took out a canteen- the only way to stay hydrated in the hellish inferno- and partook in a celebratory drink. "I'm too softhearted for my own good, I'd say," he sighed. "Run along, now." The magmar, knowing that it had suffered a crippling defeat to a pokémon it should have a distinct advantage over, crawled away in terror.

In all honesty, this huge volcanic dungeon had worn down Daté to his very limits. When he tried to roll about his left arm, he received no response- the flames had temporarily frayed the nerves about his arm. It always scared him to see his skin blackened, but it went away- unlike his mission. And even after weeks of charting and fighting, his progress towards the hidden end with his goal still evaded him.

Still, the distance he had made into the dungeon today impressed Daté. Even with his arm out of service for a while, he decided to see what lay in the next room.

And immediately after making that decision, he regretted it. He assumed that the large mouth of the entrance to the next area only seemed to be leading to a straight drop, and was really just a steep hill. Yet, as lava jutted past his face, he knew that he couldn't be any more wrong and that the true answer was a perilous as the volcano could manage.

A sea of lava stood between his small platform and the other, bubbling and spewing like a giant's stomach attempting to digest him. Slugma and magcargo loitered around on the sides, daring him to make an attempt to use the walls as a way to climb across. It was nearly impossible with two arms- and he _really_ didn't want to try it with just one.

The room was the world's way of telling him that it didn't want saving from the grovyle. A drop of lave would singe his skin- perhaps beyond repair- and any contact with the pool of lava spelled instant enervation and death.

But he had to go on, even if it killed him. The current had already completed its rounds in this region; it would take half a year to wait for this entire feature to be wiped from the dungeon completely. Distraught and hopeless, Daté backed into the previous room, reached into his satchel, and started taking swigs from a drink of a different kind.

Suddenly, he pelted the cask into the ground, smashing it and its contents upon the stone ground. Drinking now would only concede that he was useless, that he was unable to fulfill the tasks he set for himself. His friend, long forgotten in his memory but not in his heart, yearned for him somewhere. He desired strongly for the grovyle to not let himself claim defeat. Daté stood up, shaking from his convictions and his rage. "I promise you, friend," he called out, "that you will find me as ashes on the bottom of a sea of lava before you find me sitting by watching the world rot away! I will act for the both of us and complete our mission!"

* * *

Ago kept his eyes on the cold slab of stone he sat on, attempting as hard as he could to not betray disappointment or anger. Even so he kept them in check, the unfairness of his situation made him furious against Orchidia, as if the continent and its features had cheated him in his transformation. "Are you absolutely sure that there is nothing we can do about this... this bullshit?" Ago muttered to Asabi.

A few seconds passed before the psychic doctor found the will to make a response. "Your spine's electrical pulses are dampened by a small twist somewhere in the lower side of your body. I have no clue how it happened, but it can only be genetic. Are you sure that you knew nothing about this instinctively? You just assumed it would eventually come to you?"

"For the eightieth fucking time, _yes," _Ago snapped. What was Lugum going to think about this? Without the ability to use electric attacks, he was a sub-par pair of claws and an amateur guide. "I'm sorry," he relented, "it isn't your fault. Please, Asabi, is there _anything_ that can be done?"

The tingling feeling rose again in his back as Asabi rechecked the malignant trait. "I would say that I could repair it using very specific outputs of psychic force. But I should say no, because saying I can do that will jeopardize my position. Surgery has never really been a strong suit for me, and I can estimate that I hav a higher chance of breaking your back completely instead of fixing it."

If there was even the slightest chance, the pikachu wanted it. Nothing scared him more than being totally and completely worthless. "Let's do it," he decided.

"No!" Asabi chided. "It isn't worth the dangers of permanent paralysis."

"I'll find a way to pay you, I don't have any money as of yet but once I do it will all go to you-"

"_For the last time, Ago, I'm the doctor and I said no!" _From the painful expression of grief and embarrassment in her face, he was able to see just how ashamed she was as well. He felt useless to Lugum, and Asabi felt useless to him. "If you want to try it, you have to find a real surgeon- or a very, _very,_ powerful psychic type. For now- if you really want to remain on an exploration team with Lugum- you need to buy a blade or another type of weapon to defend yourself with." Asabi did her best to give a hopeful smile. "If it helps, there are guides out there who deal with the same issues that you have."

Ago shook his head. "I don't think anybody has something quite like this," he lamented.

But Asabi wouldn't let them fall back down into their previously dreary state. "Spikes from Team Razor cannot use most ground type attacks, for example."

"_What?!"_ Ago cried out, appalled, "are you serious? He never told me that! Why not?"

"During his evolution, his body didn't develop the proper internal padding, which protects one from their own ground type attacks. Since he is, obviously, at the ground zero of these moves... a single attempt to create an earthquake will shatter his own body. Now, pokémon from all guilds wished they had someone so cautious and procedural as Spikes as their guide." Asabi may think of herself as useless, but this new information gave the pikachu the tiniest amount of hope in which to go on.

Hopping down from the counter, he picked up the guide's satchel. Lugum wanted him to go into town and buy charcoal styluses- and backup styluses as well- but he knew that he had no choice other than to spend it elsewhere. "Where can I get a weapon?" He asked. No matter what, he knew that he would rather die than become useless. Lugum and Flightly needed him, even if it was the smallest form of help. Hadn't it been him and his stylus that prevented the riolu's death, however inconsequential and unskilled his attack looked? "I've got a big day tomorrow, and I need what I can get."


	18. Confronting

**Warning: If you are wondering why chapter 18 and chapter 19 were posted at the same time, it is because the two used to be same chapter. It just... got so long. **_(That's what she said) _**On another note, part one of this story- the first twenty chapters- will be finished tomorrow. There aren't a lot of reviews on this story, but I assume that there are those silently enjoying it, so be ready as there may be a brief hiatus between chapter 20 and 21 . **

**And remember, I'm incredibly desperate for feedback- I mean, feedback is always appreciated. **

**:)**

* * *

The last thing Ago wanted to do was deliver the bad news about his back, so he avoided it by making his way over to the Coastal Guild. His trips up to the beautiful, flattened center for charting were well known to most of the sentries, and Ago had no trouble waltzing his way through the front gate and (thankfully) into the familiar place. It was a single level, unlike the Wigglytuff Guild, and the members waged constant battle with its appearance. Spikes always joked that if the place ended up as disheveled as any other guild, there would be hell all over, day in and day out, for charting team members.

The pikachu rushed up to Team Razor's quarters at the end of the guild and knocked three times. As was the usual, Laceration threw open the door- it always seemed like he was testing how fast the hinges allowed the door to swing open. "Spikes," he called back, "its Ago!" Unsettling murmurs came from behind the zangoose as he listened in carefully. Laceration scowled. "Damn it, he looks just as upset and tired as you, lazy shit! Is something wrong, Ago? Did Lugum get hurt in the Beach Cave somehow?"

"How do you even know-"

The zangoose laughed. "The Wigglytuff Guild gives that to all new recruits. Buddy, the Beach Cave is barely a dungeon. Unless you decide to go swimming in the ponds, nothing should be threatening you. It's just to see that you're not incompetent... you shouldn't even see any ferals!"

It only confirmed what Ago already felt- there was a reason that Chatot put that single tip on the board; the dungeon never changed enough to invalidate it. "Tell that to the kabutops who drove his fucking pincer through Lu's arm yesterday." A long, sympathetic _oh_ came from the zangoose. "Anyway, I'm not feeling incompetent. I'm feeling something more along the lines of _impotent_."

Laceration crossed his arms and flashed an inviting smile as Razor pushed his way into the doorway. "What- we were talking here, you ass!" Was the response. The scyther shoved and shouldered the zangoose until he got into the front of the doorway. "Damn it, Team Leader Razor, please give me orders to tear you apart, you _annoying, intrusive-"_

But the scyther didn't seem to be in the mood for banter, however. "Spikes isn't well- he was gruesomely injured in the Tauros Plains dungeon yesterday- we left some time after Chatot broke up that fight and we moved all the bodies. Laceration here," he said quietly while gesturing his head towards the angry zangoose, "is just trying way too hard to stay optimistic. In all truth, we're more in a despairing kind of mood. It is better off if you leave."

"Look!" Ago said desperately, "can you just tell him that I am unable to use my electricity, and that Asabi told me of his situation? And that I could _really_ use some fucking empathy right now?"

The team leader only sighed. "Why is Asabi going around starting up talk about that stupid talk? I can, but that doesn't change anything. He will still refuse-"

"Just let him in," a beaten voice pleaded. After shaking his head sadly, Razor moved out of the way so Ago could come in to the sleeping quarters. Their satchels, usually kept in perfect fashion, now sat in disgusting disarray; the usual reverence Team Razor held for their equipment had totally imploded. Even worse than the dirtied room was Spike's condition. The sandslash leaned against the wall and stared out, but Ago saw immediately that it wasn't a kind of stare that bespoke of outward vision. His arms sat in casts, and his legs in splints, and it didn't take long for Ago to figure out that he learned of Spike's deficiency a moment too late.

Crying out as he did so, Spikes struggled to sit himself up. Instead, he wailed as he slipped off of the wall and landed on the mat. "What in the flying _fuck,_ you two?" Ago shouted, "what are you all thinking- he should be in a bed or something!" The two ignored him as they went to silently pick up the sandslash and prop him against the wall again. "Did you use a ground type attack? Is that what caused this?"

Seeing Spikes, the calm and calculated guide, falling into silent sobs scared the hell out of Ago. "I... I don't want them to talk about it again. Everyone forgot, eventually, since our team was doing so well. Getting treated would summon it all back again. I erred and led us into a tauros stampede... and I had no choice but to... reveal how pathetic I am. E-everytime it happens our medics always say I'll never recover, but I always do." He clamped shut his eyes and gritted his teeth with frustration. "I always do, because it is Arceus's wish that I suffer."

Ago didn't know how to respond, but he tried anyway. "Hey... don't get so down, o-okay? Why are you going to let a little incident get in the way of your success?"

Everyone remained silent, because it was a challenge that none of them had the strength to answer. The only way to get past it was for Spikes to move on, but the sandslash only sat limply, not willing to save his team from themselves. "I'm thinking that this might be it. Without being optimal, having all of one's assets, there is no reason to go out and explore. I... we... deserve to be burned. We're all fucking deformities... yes. I'm leaving Team Razor. You should do the same, and we can start an interior exploration team, or other things on our level."

It almost appeared that the other two expected this. They attempted to look busy cleaning up, but Laceration's heavy breathing soon turned into a silent cry, and Razor made sure that he was turned away from them. The team of 'some of the sharpest blades, claws and minds'- as the other teams in the Coastal Guild described them- began to cry and break down like little children. Never before had Ago been more pissed off.

"_You fucking asshole!" _He shouted furiously, jumping forward and pushing the sandslash into the wall. "_I come here thinking that you would tell me it will all be fucking okay, and this is what you give me? Hopelessness and pity? You selfish little piece of shit!" _

The sandslash averted his eyes, not having any of it. "Am I the selfish one? Probably, but that means you are too. We want to do something that we know isn't in our capacity-"

The smashing impact of Ago's closed claw across Spikes's face rung like a gong, as the sandslash wordlessly fell over. Immediately, the other two went into action in order to protect their ally. Jumping back, Ago plunged a claw into his satchel and pulled out a small sword he had bought on the way there. Laceration and Razor gaped at him, their claws and blades raised and ready in case Ago tried something.

"_You want to fight?" _Ago yelled at them, haphazardly pointing the sword towards them. It felt peculiar and odd to use such a thing when he was a pokémon, but at the same time empowering. "Do you really think I'm afraid?" He growled. "Because I'm not."

Razor glared at the pikachu. "Is this honorable, Ago? To attack a friend because he didn't say what you wanted him to? Not everyone has the same reaction to the troubles in their life, and you are far too inexperienced to understand the danger of the dungeons. When you see the real ones... you'll see why Spikes has reacted in this way. I think of you as a dear friend," he told Ago, "but if you do not cease and desist right now, I will cut you down. For Spikes's sake."

But the pikachu would not back down. "You know, I'm a larger foreigner than you may think, and my amnesia is more intense than you could guess. From my view... I've noticed how straight-up fucking weird Orchidia is. Take a minute and think about it." The two gave him looks that showed no understanding. "What I'm saying is that Orchidia isn't a very logical place. Right now, you guys are right to fight for his decision to leave. Exploring is dangerous, especially for those with a disadvantage- no shit."

"But while you guys are fighting for something that makes sense, I'm stuck here facing two far-superior pokémon because I'm fighting for the very same sandslash. When I say I'm not afraid of you, it is because I do not fear a pair that is too cowardly to fight for a friend's happiness instead of his safety." Ago smiled. "You know what Lugum will say about my disability? Some of the stupidest things to come out of a pokémon's mouth since the history of pokémon. She's too tough to just let me get tossed aside and thrown into a gutter."

Slowly and carefully, Ago sheathed the sword and put it back into his satchel. "Now, if you'll excuse me, that reminds me of better places I could be than some fucking pity party. See you later, Team Razor." Laceration and Razor stood frozen, none of their training preparing them for a such an honest verbal assault.

"Wait."

Ago turned around, and saw that Spikes had somehow got onto his own two feet. Apparently, the damage was more mental than physical. The pikachu really expected the sandslash to say something. He only nodded respectfully at first. "I am glad that the Ravenous Mightyena brought us together," Spikes said. "Besides my injured eye, I would say that the relationship has been extremely beneficial. When you run through the beach cave again, tell the munchkins inside that Team Razor says hello."

Laceration gave a guffaw, which sounded nearly crazed with relief. "Ha, Spikes, how will they be tested if all the ferals are running away scared?"

"Or laughing themselves senseless when they remember your stupid mug," Razor added.

"_Why I oughtta..." _

Ago grinned and waved, taking his leave of the now-properly recuperating group. He couldn't stop smiling; his nerves burnt to a crisp in the stressful conflict.


	19. Gambling

"Wait," Lugum asked curiously, "what if I, like, punch you in the back really hard? Oh, wait! If you rub your paws together, you'll make static- or better yet, I'll rub you up before a fight!" Just as Ago expected from his endearing best friend: stupid shit. Returning late the other night, Ago only had time to share the bad news with Lugum before falling asleep, exhausted from his encounter with Team Razor. It wasn't until he heard snoring that couldn't be natural that he even knew that Flightly had wormed his way into Sharpedo Bluff. But, with a large amount of his own power out of commission, he valued the pidgeotto enough to bear with it.

They had all gone down to the beach for a pre-exploration picnic, which probably wasn't the best procedure. Flightly, however, hadn't touched his food. "Do you think it is possible," he suddenly asked Ago, "that Zube's gust attack is what caused this injury?" Really, neither Lugum nor Ago found the fact that he knew Zube surprising, but Ago himself saw it as an odd connection for such a pokémon as Flightly.

As for the question, it was a surprisingly acute, yet destructive at the same time. Hadn't there been a knot in his back after hitting the rock? "No, I've always come short of being able to harness my power," he lied. To be honest, he cared not whose fault it was. He had a sharp sword, and he couldn't miss something he never had. And to be absolutely honest, Ago still bubbled slightly with anger- the idea of acting as a portable storm interested him greatly.

Flightly sighed with relief. "It is good to hear that. The zubat would never forgive himself- in all actuality, he behaves much more nicely than either of you probably can imagine. I considered asking him to tag along, but I do not think he would like it."

Lugum shot up, too anxious to sit around blabbering any longer. "Dang it, we're wasting daylight. And, if what Ago told us is right, we should have no more problems with abnormalities. Let's just get this walk over with. Ago nodded and slipped over the strap to the bland sword. It's price was the only one cheap enough to fit in with the charcoal styluses. Hopefully it didn't break.

Once again, the trio found themselves falling into the same casual march, talking and enjoying the cave. The only exciting part of their walk at first was when Lugum tried to get another shellder on her arm. It required both Flightly and Ago reprimanding her for her to guiltily pull her paw from the pond. "But, other than the little guy getting hurt, it was kind of flattering," she admitted. "And interesting... man... I can't wait to be out of this cave and go to nice places! Pardon me for wishing it, but a little danger would be nice."

Instead of agreeing that it was a bad wish, Ago kept focused on recording all the details of the dungeon. This time, no ripples came from a pond that indicated another brutal fight with a kabutops. Now, without that danger presenting itself, Ago saw the charting as an almost personal art. Everything he studied was, in some way, only chosen because he considered it special. He wondered if Spikes selected other features to jot down on the boards, and what interested the sandslash. More than that, he hoped that Team Razor was doing fine now.

Caught in a reverie, he only barely noticed a small, dry precipice with a much larger mouth than usual. Waterfalls were common in the Beach Cave, but a dried-out one was unfamiliar to him. "Wait up," he called out, halting his group. "I think that there may be something up there- it isn't right for there to be a dried-out ledge like that," he told them while pointing.

"Oh," Lugum gasped sarcastically, "a dry hole. I'm _terrified."_

Flightly chuckled. "Yes, Ago, I think we need not be concerned with _every_ feature. Or, uh, should we be?"

An answer came in the form of a high-pitched whistle, the noise of a small object hurtling through the air. A black streak slammed into Lugum and embedded itself into her left shoulder- a shame, since it had just healed. "_Agh!" _She screamed in frustration, "_what does this place have against my left shoulder?! What did I even have thrown at me- _eh...?" Ago gaped at what Lugum pulled out of her shoulder: a finely-made playing card, which belonged to a game he had no knowledge of. "Hey," she called out to the ledge, completely unconcerned with her wound, "that isn't how you play cards! Plus, am I really only worth a Raikou two?"

The questions met with some success; instead of being pelted with more cards, a laughing sneasel leaped down from the ledge, his attention obviously focused on Lugum. "Whoa! Whoa-ho-ho-ho! We've got a real card player, here?" Ago couldn't believe their terrible luck; first they encountered a feral that became sentient, and now a sentient pokémon that turned feral. Even rarer than the former, a town pokémon that becomes trapped in a dungeon yet is able to survive, slowly becomes consumed by the same urges of the ferals in the dungeon- yet retains their articulation and intelligence. Only insanity drove them.

To think that the Beach Cave was getting so lively, for some reason, made Ago consider if this was something worth a more personal report. Definitely, if the Beach Cave became truly dangerous, Chatot needed to know that sending recruits here wasn't that great of an idea anymore. From the scarily violent to the stupidly peculiar, Ago felt like the dungeon only wanted to give them a rough time.

Flightly and Lugum backed up slowly- he had more sharp cards lying in wait. "Why are you backing up, riolu?" The sneasel wondered. "Ain't we gonna play? You've gotta teach me how to play... or else I'll play the only way I know how!"

A card flew by Ago's head as Flightly knocked him out of the way, and then again as Ago had to throw down the pidgeotto in order to avoid the card's return. The sneasel caught it casually and prepared to throw it out again. "Okay, okay!" Lugum shouted desperately. "How about a game of _War of Legends_? Just a single round, though, alright?" The sneasel cried out with excitement and ran forward.

"Oh, I'm too honest," he lamented. "I'm hustling you- of course I know how to play that game! Oh, and... I cheat." The sneasel's dark affinity seemed to give him a grasp over the cards, allowing him to shuffle them without the use of his claws. "We'll put the stakes up to our lives- that's how they played with me in Treasure Town... it's so entertaining, once you give it a try!"

Ago knew that the situation was getting bad. "Lugum, we're better off fighting him now," he whispered. "He just told us he cheats! We can't be betting our lives on a game we're obviously going to lose!" The riolu grunted her agreement, looking fairly scared of the situation.

Instead of backing down, however, Flightly graciously moved Lugum out of the way. "How about you play with me? I'm also a fan of those odds." Why did it matter? The overwhelming look of confidence on the pidgeotto's face prevented Ago from getting too worried. Instead, he slowly wrote down notes about the strange gambler.

The sneasel giggled. "You're hilarious! Does the birdy like to lose? My turf, my deck, so no funny business. _Ha!_ I'm the suavest card player in Orchidia, Vigorish. But for the time being, just call me Vigz- you don't have too long to do so, anyway. Whoa hee hee!" Finally, the dizzying movements of the deck ceased as Vigz drew them back in and gestured for the three to come closer.

Flightly looked at the sneasel toss out four cards next to his talons, completely unconcerned. From the mischievous smile on the sneasel's face, it was obvious that he had already started to cheat the hand. "Lu, what is _War of Legends?" _Ago whispered.

"It's a game of cards."

"_No. Shit_." Ago growled, irritated.

"Sorry, sorry," Lugum apologized, "I'm just really caught up in all of this- it's so weird that things like this keeps happening to us! How the game works is each player is given four cards. There are four suits: Raikou, Suicune, Dialga and Palkia. They number one through then, then go from Ho-Oh to latias to latios, and then finally Arceus- which is usually top of the deck. In _War of Legends_, you can only have one card from each suit, and the goal is to have your highest card be lower than their highest card. And any hand with more cards than the other automatically wins."

It sounded so simple- too simple to be betting lives on it. Vigz guffawed as took his four cards. "Ready? Take a look at this!" With a swipe of his claw, he flipped over his four cards. Ago only expected as much from the admitted cheater: four cards, all of different suits, with two nicely painted threes and two nicely painted fours separating his hand into a powerhouse- an almost unbeatable deck, based on Lugum's explanation of the rules.

Flight didn't seem to rattled, since he most likely knew what was coming. "I would like to exchange three cards," he said to the sneasel. Using his talon, he slowly pushed three of his own hand into the pile.

"That's so useless!" The sneasel screamed with glee. "You've already lost, silly- and you haven't even looked at your cards! But, sure, let's see what happens." He flicked his arm up and moved three new fresh cards from the deck into Flightly's hand. Flightly was an idiot to be gambling his life like this- didn't Lugum become pissed off at Daté for the same exact reason? But the bird only smiled.

Clutching the card with his talon, he flipped over the first card. A Raikou three. The sneasel appeared unaffected. But when the pidgeotto turned over his next card, a Palkia four," his face became slightly confused. And that face transformed into disbelief and shock when a Dialga three came out from Flightly. "I-if we draw," Vigz cried out, fearful, "t-that means I win too!"

Ago wanted to cut through Vigz more than he did before. "Conniving little shit! How dare you make up new rules-"

"Nope," Flightly told Ago, "I like that rule. Let's do it."

The sneasel roared with laughter. "So much luck- it's a shame to have to kill it all away! He- hehe, hoho, _whoa ha ha ha- __**w-w-w-wah?!"**_

Vigz dropped down to his knees, his eyes locked on the suicune two Flightly just flipped over. Lugum cheered for the pidgeotto. "Hooray!" She shouted out, "good work, Flightly- that's a winning hand! How did you know it was all going to work out that way?"

Flightly's entire body shuddered as he sighed with great relief. "I did not. Am I not lucky, eh, Lugum?" At that moment, Ago finally saw the same look on Lugum's face when she lashed out at Daté. From what Ago knew, Flightly's hand was an astronomically low probability, and the blood-lust on riolu's face confirmed it.

"_Bullshit!" _Vigz screeched, shooting up and taking a defensive stance with his deck. "_I call bullshit! La la la la, I can't hear you, liars! You cheated more than me, that's the only way to win! Bullshitters! Cheaters!" _The sneasel groaned and covered his head.

"I didn't cheat," Flightly said sympathetically. "Sometimes you lose a draw, friend, in the dumbest way."

The cards shook about in the trembling sneasel's hands. "That hand you drew naturally, it's too impossible!"

The pidgeotto shook his head. "It is only as rare as any other hand, really, if you think about it. Some pokémon become angry that they are dealt a 'bad hand' in life, when really, there's no such thing. We're all lucky to have a unique hand in life at all. I think that you have forgotten this, gambler."

Ago drew out his sword as Vigz began to glow with a purplish hue. The defeated gambler was finished talking. "Shut. Up. Why can I never win... _does nothing in this fucking world love me?" _Screaming out, Vigorish began to throw all of his cards in a desperate attempt to cut down them all. Reacting quickly, Flightly triggered the same glowing wing technique he used on the kabutops, shielding Lugum and Ago from a shower of cards. When all of the card had been expended, the sneasel laughed maniacally and threw out his arm. The cards trembled at first, but soon began to quake- they were going to collapse in on the trio. "Die!" He commanded.

Thinking quickly, Flightly jumped high into the air to dodge the cards- but that still left Ago and Lugum to be sliced into pieces by the possessed objects. Ago quickly drove his sword into a crack in the cave's floor, and he hopped up on the hilt. "Lugum, I'll throw you up!" The riolu nodded and put all of her strength into the leap. With Ago's boost, she was able to grab onto Flightly's talons as he glided to the ground and crashed a few feet away. Confronted with two targets, Vigz completely missed, sending his array of deadly cards to a single point above Ago's head.

Before any more attacks could be made, Lugum clotheslined the sneasel, sending him to the ground. She leaped on top of him, pinning down his arms. "I don't need my arms, you dumb bitch! I'll just control them with my- _ow!" _The riolu headbutted Vigz so hard the sneasel took on a disoriented look. It was such a hard hit, it made Ago dizzy watching the riolu do it.

"Does that work?" Lugum asked. Completely out of it, Vigz nodded dumbly.

"Y-yeah," he chuckled, "you got me." Ago grabbed his sword and ran over as Lugum allowed the sneasel to sit up. He put the point on the pokémon's chest, ready to drive it forward. "You know, I am really sorry to get so angry."

Ago shook his head. "Oh no you don't. No apologizing, now."

"I'm n-not trying to beg, or anything- whoa hee hee!" Flightly backed up Ago and Lugum, finally recovered from his hard crash, and watched as the gambler leaned back on his arms and looked up towards the dark roof of the cave. "I never get the chance to play cards anymore. I'm so embarrassed!" He exclaimed, "the one time I get to I act like a sore loser. But, hey. At the very least, you can tell everyone that poor Vigorish died doing the thing he loves. Thanks for that, hee hee." He shut his eyes in anticipation for the final blow.

The sword made a tiny red dot of blood as Ago tried to force himself to follow through. "Yeouch!" Vigz cried out, his eyes still closed, "mind working a little faster, huh? I've gotta tell giratina to deliver a long-winded message to Arceus about my bad luck."

Ago clamped his eyes shut. "_Fuck me!" _He yelled as he drew the sword back and put it back into its sheath. "I can't find a good reason to kill you. Damn it..." cursing his conscience, Ago slowly lifted the sneasel back up to his feet. He gave the pikachu a look of utter confusion- and maybe a little horror.

The cave echoed with Vigorish's pleas. "D-don't leave me in here, please! I'd rather die- do it, do it now! Hurry, before it becomes lonely again, before-"

Flightly and Lugum stood agape as the pikachu shoved the sneasel in the direction of the dungeon's entrance. "I'm not planning to. From what Spikes told me," he explained to his shocked friends, "his more violent tendencies will be dulled once we are out of the dungeon. We can then bring him to the Wigglytuff Guild- see if there is any family out there looking for him."

"But what about the end of the cave?" Lugum asked. "I can almost see it, if I squint my eyes-"

"We can't right now, if we want to get him out of here," Ago interrupted. "You cannot sever a feral's tie to a dungeon by taking them to a mutual end; they for some reason can't make it through. Only the entrance of the dungeon works. Are there any objections to taking this bastard out of the dungeon and finishing this trek tomorrow?"

Lugum nodded meekly and Flightly shrugged. "I guess that he would make a good partner to play cards with from time to time," Flightly admitted. "Maybe the Wigglytuff Guild can even can teach him how to play fair."

An excited Vigz leaped forward and grabbed onto the pidgeotto's wing. No attack followed, so they all relaxed as the sneasel chuckled. "Yes, yes, we'll play some cards! You're really taking me outside?" The bird sighed and gave a lackluster _I suppose so_. "Y-you're so nice to Vigorish," the sneasel stammered, "I will do anything for you. _Anything... name your enemies and I'll make sure-"_

_"_Let's go," Ago grunted, "before I change my mind about this." And with that, their attempt at the Beach Cave was, for yet another time, got interrupted.

At least this time, a life would be saved instead of killed. And that in itself made it much better than the last attempt.


	20. Realizing

**Due to the server outage yesterday, my one-chapter-a-day streak was snapped, after I lost over 1000 words to a failed save. Hopefully, with the move complete, I'll be able to post consistently as always. Anyway:**

The soft, unsettled dirt flowed slowly through Lugum's paws, falling back onto mound of replaced dirt. About two weeks ago, this covered pit intended to be her permanent resting place, after she had foolishly challenged a storm- the fiercest storm, in fact, of recent times. A grate, hurtling towards her had cracked her skull, yet something or someone out there for some reason found her worth saving. She woke up in painful shame and confusion, and it was this confusion that led her to Ago, who helped her unconditionally. Again, it didn't make sense; she slowly scooped up more dirt and allowed it to rain down onto the pit.

She was so happy now... Ago the pikachu and Flightly the pidgeotto, the members of her exploration team, became her some of her first friends other than Gastro that she could ever remember. Waking up by the river so long ago, she never imagined that a pokémon lost like her had a chance to fit in somewhere.

Day by day, she had resigned to her solitary fate; accepted the rumors and the murmurs from those who even cared enough each day; denied her nightmares each night; rescinded the morbid wishes created by the desire to break away from them the mornings after; ignored the laughter when she trained at the Dojo in her free time; hide away with Gastro at a single mention of any of their problems. Eventually it was these patterns that made Lugum happy.

And it was this that forced her to pick up another paw-full of dirt, trying to figure out why she deserved to realize what happiness truly was. The last three years of her life seemed like a total waste. Never before had she thought about it in any other way, but at the mound she began to see the repression that was self-enacted. Lugum growled silently at the mound, only loud enough so that whatever laid under it could hear.

The truth is, Lugum realized as she slammed the dirt into the stupid grave, that she _hated_ who she used to be. It wasn't a little dislike or a little shame; the riolu despised everything that the past symbolized. An obsolete Lugum laid under the dirt, never to come up again- something had died when she went up to the guild in that storm, she suffered an injury far more profound and beneficial than a cracked skull. Perhaps... that was the way she intended it. Like a seviper, a skin had been shed and what came from under the useless dried hide was a glossy new beginning.

She smiled; in a way, it felt like she had won against some obstructing force of nature. "That's right, you sniveling brat," she hissed at the mound, "you're stuck down there. A-and no one wants you back. So-so... _stay down!_" With a disdainful kick the dirt spattered, and any evidence that there had been a grave disappeared. Three years buried, its epitaph a reputation of cowardice she must overcome.

Turning around to see her new friends, Lugum knew it was the right thing to do. "Ready?" Ago asked patiently. "Everything is okay with you?"

With a typical, sheepish smile, Lugum clapped her paws together. "I've never been better, Ago!" was the response. "To think that we finally got through the stupid cave." While the first try had resulted in a punctured shoulder, and the second with the trio dragging back a lost gambler, the third was the peaceful journey she expected from the place. The answers that locked the psychic box were impressively undone by Ago, who had remained attentive through their stressful situations. To think that he almost wanted to quit because of his back was ludicrous- he would be the perfect guide for Lugum's team.

"You know, Lu, I never really did get around to making a formal thank-you for rescuing me," Ago told her. "And for everything else. I mean, this must really be out of your comfort zone."

Flightly nodded in agreement. "Really, you have had a very busy two weeks. In terms of hospitality, I have to say that you performed quite decently." Did she? Lugum laughed, her body language reserved and shy. It only became better for her; she held onto her arm tightly, worried that at any moment all of this would float away. If she ever lost them... Lugum laughed even harder, driving the morbid thought of her head with a furious fit of giggles. "I cannot even begin to believe that I am joining an _exploration _team- let alone one that is definitely going to be focused on charting," the pidgeotto said, "so, Team Leader Lugum, you better not take Ago and me through hell!"

"F-fine," Lugum breathed out, recovering from her small fit. "But you have to promise me that you'll stay with me. Don't... don't..."

"I get it, Lu," Ago mercifully finished. "I really don't think there's anywhere for me to go, and Flightly is too damned obnoxious to just give up on chasing you around. Trust me: as long as you're the one leading it, I'll follow you into _most _places."

Lugum crossed her arms, a mock-scowl on her face. "_Most?!" _

Smiling, the pikachu held out his arms pleadingly. "Yeah! Nothing too fucking crazy, okay? I don't want to explore some place called _the Pit of Serious Peril."_

_"_What's wrong with exploring The Pit of Serious Peril?" Flightly asked. "It looks great this time of year." Ago gaped at the pidgeotto for a second, and the realized that the bird was joking. Without looking back to see if the two arguing pokémon were following behind her, Lugum finally broke under her own impatience and made her way to the Wigglytuff Guild.

Their last adventure in the Beach Cave did not involve sentient kabutops or crazy gamblers, sadly. Really, it was a nervous walk that ended with Ago answering a few easy questions asked by a box, and inside laid a note of certification. It made her sad to think that the Beach Cave usually lacked in the way of major changes, because she knew as they left it that she wouldn't have much reason to explore it again. And now, two days after turning in the certificate, Wigglytuff was to meet them at the top of the hill so that they could finalize their team.

The had came early, so the Guild Leader Wigglytuff was not yet prepared. What interested Lugum more than waiting, however, was a snickering sneasel playing with a pair of children outside of the gate. The two children, a small growlithe and a peppy jumpluff, watched intently as the sneasel shuffled his deck of cards. "And now..." Vigorish said with much emotion, spinning about the cards with his claw. "_Is this your card?!" _The young duo jumped back as a Palkia seven flew out from the pile of cards.

The growlithe squinted his eyes and read the card, and his eyes eventually widened with awe. "It is! It really is my card! Wow!" Vigz cheered triumphantly and pulled the card back and spread them out. With a tiny leap, he landed upon the start of his trail and walked across the floating cards. The kids whooped and spurred him on, overly excited for the act.

But he was soon collapsing to the ground as Ago tackled him. "Lu!" He yelled out, "Help me keep him down!" Instead, Lugum stayed on the sidelines, watching Flightly rush over in her place. They pinned the dangerous pokémon down as the kids began to wonder if it was part of the act.

"Why," Vigz taunted through a small smile, "I had no chance to notice in the dungeon but you are all quite violent! _Whoa hee hee- oof!" _Growling, Ago shoved his face down into the dirt.

"Damn it, what are you trying to do with these kids?" He shouted at the sneasel, confused. "Who the fuck-" the pikachu cried out as a growlithe slammed into him, sending them both sprawling and away from Vigz and towards Lugum.

The young child stood up, his face determined. "Stop messing with Vigz!" He commanded, ready to attack again. "He's our favorite nanny!"

Lugum giggled. "Vigz is your nanny?" The sneasel stood up and looked away, a little embarrassed. Even so the gambler had been stuck in the Beach Cave long enough to lose his mind, he still cared for what the riolu thought of him. "I think that's great!" Lugum decided. This considerably brightened Vigorish's mood, and he recalled his cards, ready to start up again. "Do you like it?"

He nodded emphatically. "I have never found something that is more fun! Little Growler and Hopper are so nice to me... unlike you two jerks," he growled, pointing at the still-downed Ago and the pidgeotto awkwardly ruffling his feathers. "Why would you treat a friend like that?"

At that, Ago got over his disorientation and shot up immediately. "_What?! Friend?!" _The pikachu cried out, appalled. "You tried to _kill_ us!"

He fell over again as Lugum backhanded him. "Don't talk badly about the kid's nanny, Ago!" She reprimanded. A furious ball of yellow fur put his claws up as he rose up again.

"Lu, I've been merciful to you before, but now I'm going to give you a _real_ haymaker!" He put his arms up, ready to duke out. Lugum got into a serious stance and put on her best war-face, although it was tough to keep the look without bursting out in laughter. Carefully they both evaluated the situation, wondering how ready the other one was. Lugum cocked her head to side; did Ago really want to spar right now? The moment she leaped forward to get the first hit, however, the pikachu dove away. "Whoa, I was kidding!" With the two kids spurring her on, Lugum followed through, hopping towards Ago. "W-wait a minute, think about this! Lu? _Lu?!" _

Finally, Guild Leader Wigglytuff came out from the front gate, carrying a small box. "Hello, friends! I'll have to ask you not to fight in front of the children. They hear about violence often enough from their parents. Why don't you take them to the beach, Vigz? Do you remember where that is?" He gave a deep bow and beckoned for the kids to follow him.

Flightly spread his wing out in a type of pidgeotto's greeting. "Yes, we were all wondering why Vigz is already caring for children. Do you not think that this could turn out very poorly?" The children didn't understand, and they glared at the pokémon trying to demean their nanny while walking down the hill. "I have to admit, they have taken a liking to him. How did you know?"

Wigglytuff looked up at the cloudy sky as it hid away the bright afternoon sun. "Well, according to my Commanding Officer, Vigorish's dark affinity has 'manifested itself in a very powerful way' or something..." his face scrunched up thoughtfully. "I think it is very friendly and entertaining! Plus, Vigz told me himself that he wanted someone to like him, and kids offer unconditional love. And the children are very safe with him, since he can't be bribed. Honestly, we use retrieved pokémon as nannies all the time!"

The box made a soft thud as it hit the ground. "But I think you came for something else other than that. Right, friends?!" Lugum held her breath; it was finally happening! Slowly she stepped forward, putting her paws on the wooden container that held her future. "As you probably know, there are seven issued medallions with labels special to your group of friends. They contain personalized escape orbs that have several ways of ensuring you and other pokémon's safety. The capsule in the back holds a small note for other explorers if they find you unconscious. If you need more, I can have them made, but this should tide you over for now. If you rise in rank, our blacksmith Ferrous will recast the metal to match your new achievement."

"I expect you here at least once every week, and going on a mission at least every two. Other than that, friends, all I need is your team name!"

Lugum pointed her head towards the sky as small raindrops began to touch down. It was nothing like the storm that had killed her, but it still reminded her. She had somehow not noticed how foggy it became, the rain obscuring the spanning lands that could be seen from most angles. She tried hard not to, but she was soon adding to the drops of water hitting the ground. Everything so far had come together so wonderfully... "Lugum," a voice called out to her as a yellow arm waved in front of her face, "Orchidia to Lugum." She snapped out of it and refocused herself. "We need a team name."

"I t-think that you guys should choose it. You d-deserve to."

Ago scoffed. "Nope. Good try, though. What's it gonna be, Lu?"

All of this began when she decided to go out into the storm and try to join the guild. From that moment, the moment she stepped outside Sharpedo Bluff and took that step away from the comfort of her old life, her new life started in a brilliant and unforgettable fashion. All of them... it was thanks to that storm. "Team Wayfarer," Lugum said with much confidence.

Wigglytuff seemed impressed with the name. "Really? Nothing thematic, or tough? Friend, if it won't offend you... what are you faring your way through?"

The pikachu who had forced her to choose now agreed with the leader. "Yeah, Lu. It's pretty vague."

"Everything," Lugum replied. "We're the wayfarers of everything. Because today... today is the day that I start the rest of my life!" Cold droplets whistled by her as she took the wooden box into her arms, holding it like a newborn child. She walked over and looked at the very beautiful and foggy landscape. The lands of Orchidia were foggy, and so it with her past in it as well. Yet, with the help of friends, she was ready to take the first step forward.

* * *

One of Roposo's scarlet eyes shot open as a nervous pattering sounded from outside the training room. Raised together since birth, Roposo could smell his brother Rekel's scent, even through all the gore of his recent fight. The door slid open, and the quiet ninetales tried to not appear sick when he saw the mess their recent hunt had caused. "Brother," Roposo said soothingly, "why do you walk in on this disgusting act? I told you to stay outside."

"I k-know it is necessary brother, a needed act for our survival. It brings me no discomfort," Rekel lied. "The Rabuta Dojo," he marveled, attempting to sound callous, "how much blood and sweat have pokémon wasted here? And to think, that this situation will only stain the woods of its halls a few years ahead of its time." The hariyama, pinned under Roposo's sharp claw, once again mustered up the will to struggle.

He tried to slam a wavering palm into the bloodied ninetale's chest, but instead found his arm caught in his teeth. "You bastards!" He coughed out as Roposo slowly brought the flames of his body close to his throat. Slowly, the arm began to roast, and Rekel- always tougher in his speech- averted his gaze. "Why do you attack my Dojo?" He cried, his will to fight finally broken by the singing pain of the heat. "_Why? Take a-anything you want, but leave my poor daughter alone! M-my life, if that is what you want, steal it away! But don't touch a hair on her he-" _

A small whine came from both Rekel and the gothorita cowering in the corner as Roposo finally stopped his toying with the owner of the Dojo. She covered her eyes, not wanting to see the flashing teeth that made the hariyama go limp. "_R-Roposo, _that is his daughter?" Slowly, her arms fell down, realizing that there was no escape from the two, and no way to fully block out everything. She watched the murdering brother with hatred in her eyes.

If one brother lied about how uncomfortable the acts made him, then the other could rightfully lie about how much enjoyed them. Suppressing his pleased grin, he instead stood agape with horror as blood streaked down from his maw. "N-no," he said in a fake stammer, "I did not know... I was too focused on the battle, and didn't know." Why did he care? Soon he would receive the ultimate pride for his hunt, and his coy, manipulative brother's place in the world would come to an end. A second, and then two... and no voice came to him, congratulating him on a job well done. "This hariyama... he had not the power either."

Immediately, the facade both of the brothers had put on melted away under the sheer power of the news. "_B-brother!" _Rekel sobbed, "_y-you promised he was it!_" This did not bode well for Roposo; the other ninetales was reaching his breaking point- although it took much longer than he anticipated. "Brother, brother, no! More needless blood on _our claws..._" He shuddered and limped towards the gothorita, his tail shamefully drooped and his head hung low.

"You," the gothorita whispered, her voice distraught and unbound from the world, "you brought us gifts, and toured our Dojo. You wished to see if it would be proper for your son." The ninetales shook his head as she continued to stare at him. "Where is your son, Rekel?" She was completely devastated by what she had witnessed, that she couldn't figure out what was real.

"He doesn't have one," Roposo hissed, annoyed. "His bitch of a mother rendered us infertile at birth and destroyed our prideful bloodline. And now he is only good for whining and hiding away from the smallest sight of blood!"

Rekel fliched away from the words. "_Our _mother, Roposo. And it isn't her fault..."

The furious ninetales flung away the hariyama, disgusted. "Damn you, Rekel. We kill the gothorita, and we continue searching. And if you don't like it, you can give up and shame the bitch, our once-loving father, and our entire family, for all I care. There is a rumor that originated in Treasure Town that I heard from the locals here: a riolu came back to life after being slain by a flying grate. That is where I will go next, with or without you."

His brother nodded, but still stood in front of the gothorita. "I want to be immortal," he whispered, "I want to make sure that our family lives forever, a-and cheat fate. But I will not let you kill the gothorita- that is my deal!"

He should kill the disgusting fucking brat here and now, but he could prove useful if their next adversary proves to be more dangerous than the hariyama. "_Move." _

"No, brother."

"Don't be silly, Rekel. If we do not, she will tell, and then we really will have murdered to no avail. Two more pokémon: her and the riolu, and we will have our place as demigods." That was the game that the lord of all had created for his enjoyment and their recruitment. And he looked forward to finally following through. "What will we do with her other than this? There is-"

"I will care for her," Rekel pleaded. "There is no way for her to spread the news if she is our captive. W-when we finally kill the riolu... what does it matter if she goes about spreading stories?"

Roposo smiled and shook off his fur. With this gothorita in tow, Rekel would be appeased for the time being. The coy ninetales probably knew that Roposo would only accept this alternative because of this, but the desperate act only gave Roposo the time he needed to secure the end of this long road of destruction. "Fine, take her along. But she is your responsibility to feed and water."

Walking slowly, he looked outside at the beautiful fields surrounding the Rabuta Dojo, which laid on the town's outer limits. He could hear his brother trying to pick up the gothorita to no avail. As the sun warmed his fur, he closed his eyes and relaxed, turning his head upward to the sun. "Soon, father. The riolu shall be dead and you will once again be proud of your one and only true son."

* * *

**END OF PART ONE**

**So there it is: the first part of four! I hope that you have enjoyed reading it so far. Make sure to provide feedback. **


	21. Battle for Shellder Town: Preparation

**Hey guys, this is an extremely long segment that will provide a filler between part one and part two of the story. It provides some deeper insight to the outside of Treasure Town, which is something that isn't entirely prevalent, and also characterizes some of the ambitions of the three main members of Team Wayfarers. Enjoy!**

**(P.S: this filler will be divided into segments, for the reader's sake.)**

**Battle for Shellder Town**

* * *

**Preparations**

_"Today I set out onto my own hard path_  
_it's a path that's long cruel and crude_  
_But I take my steps, though they may be my last_  
_Because I'm of the chos-en few._  
_Through the maws of a perilous forest_  
_I stumble upon the deepest cave_  
_Yet I take my steps, and when they hear my news_  
_They will all be cheering my name_  
_Though you be my one and only home, sweet treasure town of mine_  
_I must be leaving you behind now, to earn my explorer pr-ii-de!"_

"Lugum, where is all of this coming from?" Ago asked as the riolu fell into a soft hum while she worked the straps on her satchel. Now that they were truly setting out on an exploration, each member of their team had to carry some of the weight. Wigglytuff had tried to get away with leaving their acceptance to simple formalities, but a ruffled and annoyed Chatot told them otherwise. The name of Team Wayfarer had yet to be established in the Dojo, the major clients and the guild-sponsors. Without them, any rewards for contracts undertaken would easily be nullified, cheating out the trio of their well-earned pay.

Of course, a certain impatient riolu tried to assure Chatot that money came second-hand to exploring, but Chatot- and Flightly- would have none of it. Ago guessed that going out of procedure just a little was enough to make Chatot's head explode.

They overcame the excruciating wait with their typical routine and a disgusting amount of card games with Vigz. When it came to the sneasel, Wigglytuff said it perfectly; he entertained them all with his card tricks and tiny hints of his past. The small reveals seemed so intentional... as if he wanted to make Team Wayfarer remember his past while he gradually forgets it. Eventually, after a month of this dull pattern, they finally got their chance to explore.

As it stood, Ago had enough mystery to deal with in these upcoming explorations. Now, he had to deal with this uninvited surprise. The riolu stopped humming her tune and turned to Ago, a gleeful spark in her eye. "Lu, where did you learn to sing like that? I mean... you just don't seem the type." At this Lugum crossed her arms and gave him a defiant look. "Don't give me that face, Lu. When do you even practice?" The look only got worse. "F-Flightly, back me up on this!"

During the last month, Flightly's obsession with investigating Lugum transformed into full-blown infatuation. He kept it under check most of the time, but his passionate work at the Dojo in team exercises betrayed his desire to impress her. If Flightly found the same expression in his fighting that Lugum did, the two were acting a lot more than they were speaking during their training. And, on top of having to witness the lame bird try to woo her with his skills, Ago had to deal with how jealous he was of them both. Every day at training he sat on the sidelines, his incremental improvements giving him more control over his body yet never enough to avoid botching a formation.

He should have known that the bird would pick Lugum's side- the side that anyone should be allowed to sing wonderful melodies with out invitation. Yet he didn't expect for Flightly to clear his throat and say "I myself like the second verse better, since it is slightly more realistic."

Ago thought he was kidding, but he slowly started to breathe in. "W-what? not you too-"

_"The world gets larger each and every day_  
_While I must remain quite small_  
_Yet i take my steps, I'll show them the way_  
_my pride keeps me standing tall._  
_Burnt and smashed, broken and beat_  
_I cry out at all these new pains_  
_Yet I take my steps, I must make them see_  
_that a love to explore never wanes._  
_And as I am peering out, watching that bright sun arise_  
_A single tear comes from my eye, because this land is **mi-ii-ne**!" _

Lugum and a team also preparing their supplies in the common pasture cheered and clapped for the singing team. "H-how in the hell?!" Ago cried out, appalled. "Can every pokémon around here fucking sing or something?" Suddenly, the Commanding Officer hopped up to the pikachu, a broad smile shining on his face. He nodded vigorously, and spread out a wing to the sky.

"_Surrounding me is a whole lot of mystery  
__more than I could ever discover  
yet I take my steps, and what I can see  
Will just have to hold me over-"_

"A-hem," Chatot coughed, mercifully stopping his musical number. "E-excuse me. I got quite excited to know that there are finally members in this guild that honor a good performance. If you would stop distracting me now, you two," he chastised, "I have an incredibly essential announcement:"

"As you may or may not know, exploration teams in our area have been put on caution due to the tragic takeover of Oran Town and Lombax Meadows. An army of ferals, led by an unidentified bandit king or warlord- take your pick of miserable vermin- has conquered these areas in great haste, and has moved West towards Treasure Town." Ago didn't know anything about this, and it looked like his teammates were in the dark as well. Flightly and Lugum became tight-jawed at the news, and Ago couldn't help falling in line with them; a tamer and a belligerent bandit... what was there for Team Wayfarer not to hate?

With a large thud Lugum's paws flew together menacingly. "Let's teach this creep a lesson, guys! Ago, you get Team Razor-"

Chatot squawked out, stopping her before the frenzy built up too much momentum. "No, no, no! A militia of some of our most capable teams has already left, including Team Razor." This information explained why they hadn't been at the Coastal Guild for the past week. With most of the basic lessons out of the way, Spikes and Ago fell into a new territory: finding a cure for their deficiencies. They consulted doctors, and searched for possible remedies within their respective species, but only scraps of useless information had risen to the surface.

"You are to at all costs avoid their troops! We have reason to believe that their next target is up North, where the wealthy metalworking town of Picking lies. Since the Hooves Forest you seek is to the Southeast, near the coast... any interaction with this situation from any of you _will_ be punished as deliberate subordination," Chatot threatened.

Ago gave the bird a skeptical look. "Sheesh, why are you getting on our case, Chatot? What makes you think we want trouble with-"

"If I see them, I'm gonna beat them up," Lugum decided. "And say it was self defense so you can't punish me." Her eyes brightened up with glee and understanding. "Oh! You wanted us to come to this realization, right? I'll get right on the case, Chatot! They'll never see me coming..."

Brightly colored wings flash out pleadingly. "_Aiyee,_ not at all! I am one hundred percent, absolutely, positively, without a doubt or at most only a shadow of a doubt, Completely, totally, undeniably, telling you _not_ to mess around with them! Their numbers rank upwards of fifty- they'll tear you to shreds, and I'll look incompetent if a newbie team gets hurt because their Commanding Officer sent them out with notions of heroism." Frowning, Flightly gestured with his wing for the Chatot to continue. "Oh!" He exclaimed guiltily. "I also don't want any of you to get killed out there."

The riolu fell into a rigid salute- one that nearly competed with the ones she gave Gastro. "Sir, Commanding Officer, sir! I will _not__, _under any circumstances, die and go near the roaming bandits- I mean, go near the roaming bandits and die, sir!" The Commanding Officer looked pleased, until Lugum gave him a sly wink, as if they were plotting something.

"_**Aiye-ee-e!"**_Chatot screamed, frustrated and stressed to his last nerve. "_You two better make sure she doesn't do anything, and you better promise right now or I'll make you wait another month before you can even **hope **of exploring!" _After the pidgeotto and the pikachu threw out an _I promise_ in unison, Chatot finally romped away.

"Talk about mixed signals," Lugum muttered. "Team Razor must be having so much fun right now, fighting off all of the bandits and ferals..."

Flightly laughed. "Looks like somebody wants to ditch exploring and join the militia," he commented snidely. While Lugum was busy assuring the pidgeotto how much she loved exploring, the other team in the pasture walked over. This team, composed of a bellsprout, a venonat and a bellossom, hailed them and finally extracted Lugum from her passionate defense.

The bellsprout came forward, a leafy arm raised in greeting. "Hello, Wigglytuff Guild members!"

They were as a whole a very small trio, and Lugum knelt down a little in order to meet them eye to eye. "Uh, hello there. What's up?"

If the kneeling made the bellsprot feel respected or slighted, nobody from Team Wayfarer could tell. "We're from the Guild of Collectors based here in Treasure Town," the bellsprout explained. "We're Team Reapers!" Lugum became wide-eyed at the name, but the bellsprout, chuckled nervously. "Oh no, not _that_ kind of reaping. We collect wild berries and herbs from the forest dungeons. You three are part of a charting team, yes? We go in with the information you collect so we can stay safe while making our 'reaping rounds'. I'm the Identifier, Seed."

"I'm Collector Bud!" The venonat exclaimed excitedly, as if extremely interested in his own name.

"And I'm Team Leader Stem," a shy bellossom whispered. After Team Wayfarer made introductions of their own, the meek bellossom spun into a fast plea that gave them very little time to think. "Um... w-we heard about the bandits, and they have us really scared. With all the berries and roots in our bags, they'll smell it from a mile away." It was true; from this distance, the clamoring, sweet smell of flowers and fruit pervaded the air. "We need to get to Shellder Town, a-and since your Commanding Officer said that you were headed in its direction... could you escort us?"

It took a lot of effort for the small bellossom to get that out there. So much that Lugum couldn't possibly think of rejecting her. "Traveling partners!" She shouted out zealously. "This is going to be great- it's a two-day trip so we can camp out together, and tell stories, and make a campfire, and _wow!" _Stem smiled appreciatively and lifted her bag up more confidently. The others seemed fairly pleased with the news as well. Suddenly, Lugum began to shake and breathe heavily.

Ago put a claw on her shoulder, confused. "Whoa, Lugum, are you okay? Having a little heatstroke?"

"I... _I can't stay here any longer! I gotta go, go, go!" _She slapped off Ago's claw, threw her satchel up and around her neck, and began to sprint down the path, laughing and jumping at will. Team Reapers stared as the Team Leader of Ago and Flightly's charting team abandoned them, running down the path towards foreign lands.

Flightly broke the long silence with a short chuckle and a shake of his head. "Give her a minute, I promise that she will eventually notice." And the pidgeotto was right; after the riolu became a small blue dot on the horizon, she snapped to a stop and began to look around. They both smiled nervously at the collectors as Lugum began her slow jog back.

An hour into their journey, and Ago was already overwhelmed. There was so much openness, so much surrounding, uninhibited beauty, that Ago nearly felt suffocated by the freedom of the land. He couldn't look one way without getting caught by a marvel. Only open plains or plots of land covered with growth blocked them from simply breaking off of their trail and taking a detour to a distant, cloudy mountain or a shining quarry miles away. The sun shone so brightly everything shone as if Ago was only in a hazy dream.

Seeing the lands outside of Treasure Town for the very first time... it was easy to see why the fact that it was his to explore could bring a tear to his eye. "Is it everything you wanted it to be, Lu?" He asked in an awed whisper.

"Yes," she said, "everything I worked towards... this is worth it. Without being in a guild, exploring like this is dangerous. But now, it's mine." She ruffled through her bag and pulled out a rock. After a second, Ago finally recognized it; it was Lugum's lucky rock, the one she had broke a zubat's wing in order to win back. In the bright shine of the sun made the rock splash red and blue on their shadows. "In a place this big, I'm due to find where this goes, right? That's another reason I wanted to come out here." As a team that collects things, Team Reapers didn't surprise Ago with their impressed stares. "What do you think of the view, Flightly?"

The bird looked away shamefully. "Who cares?" The other five pokémon might as well have hard blasphemy coming out Flightly's beak. "Arceus, you all look so cross, now. I apologize... it is just that these features only serve to remind me that I cannot fly. Imagine that, if you were not as unfortunate as I, you would be able to soar across this land."

The bellsprout nodded sadly. "That does sound really sad."

"Let's try to forget all about that, for now," Lugum said. And it wasn't a hard thing to do when a stampede of pokémon, rushing out of the fields up North a third of a mile away, distracted them. "Jumping hitmontop!" The riolu shouted out, excited. "That's the bandit army! Wow, we're so close, a-and Chatot was right- they're headed for Picking!" The group watched as the mass of ferals collided into each other, halting. A large green pokémon lumbered out of the pile, taking a charge. "T-the bandit king controlling them is a t-tyranitar," she whispered in awe, "that... could really mean trouble for Picking, even if there is a group ready to defend it!"

Team Reapers had other concerns. "W-we need to be on our way," Stem pleaded, already leading her team down the trail. Ago respected the actually-responsible team leader. Surprisingly enough, however, Lugum agreed- Chatot managed to get through her thick skull. When the head of the giant tyranitar seemed to hone in one the small gaggle of explorers, they all winced away and

She nodded. "Y-yeah. Team Wayfarers... move out."

* * *

Tamerfang grunted out a guffaw, watching as the small group of pokémon across the fields scrambled away. "Fuck, had they never seen a worthy conqueror before? Ha!" The politoed next to him gave an obligatory chuckle as they walked through the chaos that was Tamerfang's ranks. "I ought to send a little team to slay their nosy asses, eh?"

"No my lord," the politoed answered cautiously, picking out the words he used to deny the tryanitar very carefully. "We are split enough as it is, and we are far behind schedule for new recruits from the dungeons in the area." It wasn't a good day to be Tamerfang's assistant; there was not any good news to be shared. "Three of our tamers died, my king- another accident with the ferals in this area. Our methods have become quite ineffective in this area- more study is necessary."

The clouds flew by lazily, ignoring the might of the tyranitar it covered. He turned his head away disdainfully and spat on the ground. "Study why my workers are so fucking useless," he grunted menacingly. "None of that matters, since we have more than enough."

Once again, the politoed had to deny his leader, which he could tell was wearing down on his lord's short patience. "My lord, disrespecting the guilds' strength could prove catastrophic for your conquests..."

He fell back as the tyranitar twisted around to face him, his intimidating height silencing the right-hand man of the conquering tamer. "You are being a real naysayer, Prince. Yesterday, you tell me that two pokémon came out from Rubata and decimated our ranks, because you wouldn't let them through. And now, you tell me that I am in danger? _Damn you!" _Prince covered his face instinctively as the towering beast leaned over him. "You may yet redeem yourself, Prince. Tell me now: where is my son and how does he fare?"

Now he was really in hot water. "Y-your son... he has fallen in with Shellder Town, a small town in the South that-"

"_Those pussies have taken in my strong Crainid and corrupted him into a flower-smelling, berry-eating bitch?! **Damn i-ii-t!**"_ The politoed picked himself up and threw himself out of the way. "_**F-uu-ck!"** _A high-pitched screech came from inside the tyranitar's maw, and caused the fields about him to quake. The ferals cried out and moved away, and the six pokémon turned back around when they heard the noise.

A stream of blazing plasma flew out from between Tamerfang's jaws, creating a streak that cut through the fertile soil. It spread out so far that the six travelers' cries of confusion and terror could be heard across the distance as they barely dodged the ending point of the hyper beam. Prince shuddered- he had never before seen the tyranitar put so much fury into it.

After the last bit of energy poured out, he sat down on the ground, exhausted. Slowly, prince walked up to him. "My lord, are you okay? You shouldn't disable yourself by using that attack. There are other ways to relieve your anger, like... er... knitting?"

"Do I look like the fucking knitting type, Prince?" He breathed, completely winded from his efforts. He watched as several pokémon from the group so far away held back a riolu. The little thing appeared pissed off, and he could nearly sense the fervor coming from her, though they were separated by quite a fair distance. If only his pathetic lots of tamers were a little more like this riolu, putting their paws and claws up after witnessing an attack like his hyper beam. Regardless... his family tradition would not be soiled by his son... so he may just be seeing the group soon enough. "Change course," he called out to his ferals. "We're changing course to Shellder Town immediately... I have some family matters to solve."


	22. Battle for Shellder Town: Adoption

**Battle for Shellder Town: Adoption**

* * *

"What did we do wrong?" Stem sobbed as they ran down the trail. After a devastating hyper beam incinerated the ground only inches away from them, the entire regiment of ferals turned on the spot and towards the direction of the small group. "T-that hyper beam went so far... a-and now they're chasing us. Did we look at them wrong? Oh no, oh no oh no oh _no-oo-o..." _

The situation for both Team Reapers and Team Wayfarers worsened by the minute, as their respective leaders slowly went off the deep end. Seed and Bud fell into the same panic as their leader, probably not used to seeing the meek and silent bellossom so spooked. But what annoyed Ago more than their fear, however, was how Lugum kept trying to fall into a slow jog- so she could get her chance to fight the feral army. "I swear to Arceus, Lugum," he panted as he dragged her forward again, "it's not a fucking joke! If you get caught, they'll tear you to shreds- there isn't any _explorer pride_ to be earned in that, is there?"

The stampeding steps of fifty bloodthirsty pokémon kept them along their path and blurred the once-beautiful landscape. Now the sun worked against them, slowly tiring them. The sheer amount of shade the collective army supplied to each other kept them cool and collected in the chase; the pursuers stayed strong while the pursued slowly lost their strength. Even if they ran like this for another two hours, the path going around Hooves Forest didn't arrive at Shellder Town for a little while longer. And while there was the slight chance that Team Wayfarers alone might make it... no matter what they did, Team Reapers ran too slowly, and Lugum's tense expression betrayed that she knew this.

With a single nod to Flightly, the two of them grabbed on to the members of Team Reapers, bringing the struggling pokémon to a halt. "Stop," she pleaded as Stem tried to break out of her iron grasp. "There is no use running- we got caught- Chatot is going to be so mad..." Flightly breathed in and out slowly, trying to keep himself calm. And Ago, struck hard by the reality of an army converging on them, followed the pidgeotto's pattern with ragged breaths of his own. "Stand tall, and remember your guild pride.

Side by side, the two teams tried to stand tall, one half keeping the other from doing anything more than sobbing. Distinct pokémon in the stampede became clearer, and they pointed excitedly at the group, screeching and hollering. The large tyranitar, visible in the front, smashed away a pointing beedrill and began an incredibly fast charge. "Wait a minute," Flightly said slowly," they are not stopping. They plan to trample us to death!"

With a cry of frustration, Lugum lifted up Ago and flung him away, sending him to the far-out side of the wide trail. "Not on this Team Leader's watch!" She yelled, scooping up Bud and throwing him like a ball." She threw them all to the sides, her strength sending them far out of the stampede's reach. Ago watched hopelessly; there was no one who could throw Lugum. "If they keep heading Southeast," she shouted over the nearing stampede, which were closing a fifty-meter gap fast, "you must warn Shellder tow-"

And with that, Lugum was gone, eaten up by the massive movement of ferals. She was gone, but not lost; Ago swore that instead of falling under the crowds, the large tyranitar had scooped her up into his arms with a movement so fast he hardly caught it. Flightly would probably be enveloped in angst and misery if he thought her dead. Ago finally got his heart beating again with this information.

Yet it stopped again when the beedrill, the same one that the bandit king had smacked away, rose slowly from its spot in the middle of the trail. With Team Reapers screaming and wailing behind him, Ago could barely get a shaking claw into his satchel. His gritted his teeth so hard that it hurt, but he managed to finally relax the trembling arm that held out his small sword. "Flightly, what's the plan?"

The pidgeotto's plan was that were existed no plan. Instead of replying, Flightly dashed forward to meet the beedrill head on in a straight rush at the feral's spiked arms. At the last second he dodged, the lightning-fast objects flying by him with so much force that feathers flew out from his wing. With a determined grunt, he grabbed the beedrill's leg with his beak and slammed it into the ground, causing the creature to slide towards Ago, who could only gape at the dangerous pokémon. "_Well?!" _Flightly shouted out at the frozen pikachu, "_are you going to do something?" _

He nodded nervously, and rushed forward with his sword. Flightly's slamming attack made it easy to drive his sword home and finish off the threat. Yet the damage had already been done; if they couldn't outrun the army, they certainly would not be able to catch up to them now, either. Lugum was in their midst with possible torture- or worse- in her future. And if they realized- and if it so happened- that they found out she could come back from mortal injuries... what entertainment would that offer the sick band of ferals? "G-good work," he said to Flightly as he pulled out his sword, "but we need to get to Lugum. Now."

"Do not... do not look at me!" Flightly spat shamefully. "If I truly loved her... I would have... I _should_ have been the one throwing her out of the way! Once again it was only a matter of survival for me... and now she is gone." He bent his head down low and began to somberly walk towards the outside of their group.

Ago shook his head. "Get a grip, Flightly, before she really is gone. It's getting dark... if we continue on through the night, then we can perhaps get to Shellder Town while they are asleep." Like most physical injuries, sleep deprivation was an ailment that could be staved off for a few days with increased rations. Most pokémon managed to go up to three nights without sleep using this method, and others with natural benefits towards the act went upwards of months without sleeping. "Team Reapers, do you have any berries that we can safely eat? All of our food was in Lugum's satchel, and we won't make it without something to hold us over."

"My bag fell," Stem sniffled sadly, "when L-Lugum threw me out of the way. I think that tyranitar picked it up for some reason... but we still have more than enough supplies." The small bellossom shook out tears from her eyes. "W-we're so sorry, Team Wayfarers! That a-all of this had to happen on your first exploration, and that w-we slowed you down and made you get caught. It is very scary to think of doing so, but even we don't allow someone to get hurt on our watch, no matter how weak we are! We'll get to Shellder Town first, and make sure that we can win Lugum back!"

At this, Flightly gave an insincere chuckle, that turned into a full-on laugh. Ago scowled at him, furious with the pidgeotto's behavior. "What's so funny, Flightly?"

He gave a sad, hopeless grimace. "Good luck getting that town to fight, you three. Shellder Town... is a town made of determined pacifists."

* * *

"_Let me down, let me down now and face me one-on-one, you overgrown green creep, I'll sock you so hard that even Dialga won't know what time period you've gone to, you little coward!" _Lugum screamed and roared at the tyranitar holding her with a single claw wrapped around her body. He towered at four to five times her height, but he was still quite small for a tyranitar. "_Agh! You're so annoying! Let me down now so I can show you my wrath, you spineless freak of nature!" _

The tyranitar chuckled, highly entertained. "My, my, little riolu, you've been at this for a better part of an hour," he commented casually while tightening his grasp against another episode of struggling. "Don't you think it's time to stop yelling, and just accept that you are captured?"

Suddenly and surprisingly, Lugum went limp and gave up. Tangerflame stared at her curiously, wondering if she had really expended all of her strength. "There we go," he said soothingly, "now was that so damn hard, little girl?" She nodded, and he chuckled at all the fury he subdued. He was definitely right about her; she was three-and-a-half feet of pure fiery wrath.

She flashed a hopeless glance at Tangerflame. "Yes. If you don't believe me, then I will prove it to you by..." she began to mumble so quietly that Tangerflame could no longer hear her. And since this was the best fun he found in a long time, he really wanted to keep it going.

"What was that?" He asked, bringing her closer. All the riolu did was mumbler in an even quieter voice. He brought her so close to his ear that they were practically touching. "Come on, don't be so shy. You can tell Tangerflame." Ferals, probably wanting the small thing as dinner, began to congregate under his feet as he stopped, his attention caught by the riolu.

"I don't want anyone else to hear," she whispered, "because it is an ancient weakness of the riolu and lucario. The ability... for any pokémon to use auras. We can...transfer these abilities to those who capture us. Do you desire this power, oh strong one?" Tangerflam grinned hungrily. The ability to use aura waves like the lucario clans in the far East? He nodded dumbly, and she went on. "Connect our foreheads... master... and you shall see the power."

This had to be the greatest thing to happen since this stupid conquest began! "Why, little girl, you've got yourself a fucking deal!" He impatiently brought up the riolu and planted her forehead on his own. They sat there for a moment in awkward silence as his troops shifted by him like a river. "Okay, now what?"

The riolu smiled menacingly. "You... _take this, you big, dumb, yellow-bellied, dastardly cur of a magikarps's uncle!" _The headbutt he received hit like a small boulder falling on top of his head. Crying out, Tangerflame held his right arm out as the conniving brat tried to headbutt him again, and used his left claw. Blood dripped from his left claw as he brought it back, and it enraged him. He was too careless; he ended up seeing stars instead of auras. Roaring, he threw up his right arm and pelted the riolu into the ground. The ground cracked as the riolu's body smashed a crater into it.

He looked on guiltily at what he did, thinking he had for sure he maimed the poor thing. "Oh," he said to himself sadly, "she was just trying to fight back... and I hurt her..." Not a moment too soon, he realized that everyone was looking at him- the scene had brought in quite a few spectators. "H-ha ha, just kidding!" Tangerflame laughed nervously. "I mean, what a dumb bitch! Ha ha, messing with me... no one makes me bleed my own blood! L-long live the bandit king?"

His unit gasped as the riolu suddenly shot up, her paws up and ready to go. "Ha!" She cried out triumphantly, wiping away the blood on her own forehead, "now that you've let me go, you're going to get it! Tangerflame, your demise is Lugum of Team Wayfarers!" Just how resilient was this riolu? "I'll start off..." apparently, whatever durability she had was at its limit. Her eyes became glazed over as she stumbled towards the tyranitar. "Here it goes... _hyper beam_... _swoosh swig swig swig... pckew..._" the riolu opened her mouth wide and fell over, unconscious.

Immediately, hungry ferals attempted to jump on the free meal. Crying out desperately, Tangerflame knocked them all away and scooped Lugum up again. He hated ferals- why couldn't he lean an army of sentient pokémon? Prince's ideas were so stupid.

"Such spirit," he whispered proudly. "Something I would expect from my own child..." with his son now a traitor to his cause, he had no heir for the empire he was starting. "Prince," he barked out, catching the confused politoed's attention, "bring me that bag with the seeds- we camp here... and I'm going for a walk. And I better not have anyone following my ass around, got it?" He shouted this as clearly as he could to his band of ferals and fellow tamers. If they found out what he was doing with the bag of seeds, he would lose their respect for sure.

Even as he checked her injuries, the riolu seemed to already be trying to wake up. "Lugum of Team Wayfarers," he marveled after he was a far enough distance from his troops. He took a herb from the bag and slowly wiped it across her forehead. "My... new daughter."


	23. Battle for Shellder Town: Contact

**Battle for Shellder Town: Contact**

The night sky greeted Lugum as she woke up. She was disoriented and very confused, both by her condition and the time- which seemed to be approaching midnight. Without hesitating, she raised a shaky paw and made sure that her head was fine. Every part of the riolu's body ached, and her pride ached harder- did she really fall flat after that headbutt? Yet that same shame soon turned itself into intoxicating relief; what a stupid riolu she was! Everything after her capture had been fairly merciful, until she decided to go for that surprise attack. She could have woken up with another cracked skull... or not at all.

Worry mingled with fury as she saw Tamerflame kneeling over the ground, but neither of those emotions summoned forth enough energy for the riolu to do anything about it. "You jerk," she muttered, trying to get onto her feet. No bandit king was going to watch her stay down. "Where's your little army?"

Tamerflame chuckled as the durable riolu stumbled up onto her feet. Orchidia during the middle of the night was very majestic, and Lugum stopped being vengeful for a moment so that it could all be taken in. The gibbous moon shone a bleak blue light, and Lugum could nearly feel her eyes working hard to turn that bleakness into sight. "You are like a, uh, clefairy or something," Tamerflame said, "so... what's the word? Oh yeah! Capricious. You're a capricious riolu."

"Don't mock me!" Lugum shouted. The tyranitar was really ruining the landscape. Grimacing, Lugum slowly limped towards the bandit king. "What are you even doing? D-digging your own grave...?" What Tamerflame was actually doing confused her. Smiling softly, Tamerflame worked at the soil he uprooted last morning with his hyper beam, planting seeds from Stem's bag into the slightly burnt soil. "What in the name of Arceus- you're _gardening?" _Her strength finally regained, she hopped around to his side and tried to pull away his arms. "I'm not a joke! Turn around and fight me!"

He shook his head. "I didn't come out here in the middle of the night to fight, Lugum," Tamerflame sighed. "I just want to repair the land I damaged with my temper tantrum." There was no way the large, sharp claws of the tyranitar moved so softly through the soil. "A long time ago, before I went out on conquests, I owned a farm in the far East. I plowed my territory using this same exact move, much like my neighbors do now and- what I assumed- my ancestors used to do. They called our plots the 'Thunderous Farms' because of the constant quaking and noise. It was... music to my ears."

A farmer from the East?! Lugum slowly loosed her grip on the bandit's arm, seriously wondering if the bandit king was serious. "Everything is odder on this side," he noted quietly. "In the East, it is taboo to think of soiling Rescue Team grounds with guilds made solely for profit or personal betterment. I'm not attacking your way of life, or anything, so please don't headbutt me again- that's just how things are in the East. I think that you have a really good system going, if it doesn't get corrupted by bad folk. Besides that, one of the things I was really excited about was picking some of the West's fresh oran berries, and seeing roses by the dozen."

"W-wait a minute. Roses and oran berries..." Lugum jumped back, shocked. "You only chose to attack Oran Town and Lombax Meadows because you wanted the_ roses and the berries_?!" The tyranitar nodded. What sort of bandit king was this? There was no way that this tyranitar had the will to back up a following of tamers and ferals large enough to threaten entire towns. "You're... you're a total softy!"

"Eeyup. That's one way of putting it," Tamerflame chuckled. "A farmer and an ex-member of the Rescue Team choir. I'll have to sing you a song from the teams over East someday. They're strength and determination to fight cruelty matches yours. My real name... is Floret, by the way. It's my favorite part of a flower."

It might as well have been a critical blow, because it practically knocked Lugum off of her feet; Unable to help herself, she sighed with relief and plopped down. Finding out that this intimidating pokémon farmed for a living and went West to pick roses and eat berries calmed her greatly. "Thank Arceus," she said appreciatively, "I didn't know how long I could keep up my own act."

Floret smiled and moved in, closer to the riolu. "You aren't that fiery all the time?"

Lugum shook her head. "No, no way! But... I'm Team Leader Lugum now, and they'll lose trust in me if I'm not tough enough to lead them through danger." With a sudden jerk, she shifted herself away from Floret. "Why do you even care in the first place? Just because you like to plant seeds doesn't change the fact that all of this- the army and the takeover- are really bad things! You ought to be arrested."

The bandit king leaned back on his arms, a large thud sounding out as his claws hit the grass behind him. "Maybe, but that politoed Prince knew my father, and he said that this is what my dad ran around doing, and that I need to be carrying on the legacy. Who am I to deny 'legacy', such a fancy and refined thing? I'm a simple farmer, never asked for trouble once in my life, but now I'm out in the world making it. And honestly, you got it lucky, Lugum; if the band of ferals waiting yonder outside of Treasure Town ever caught wind of me being weak, they'd kill me!"

Leaning over the side of the long ditch, Lugum began to breathe slowly. She pleaded to herself over and over again; don't start feeling bad for a no-good rotten bandit. He was probably lying, anyway, all for the sake of a cruel joke before they really killed her. Yet, as she watched the tyranitar quietly tend to the work of fixing up the land, with his occasional stoops to smell the soil and inspect the seeds, Lugum couldn't help wanting to help. "Floret... if you turn yourself in to the militia, I'll make sure that you don't come into harm's way," she said through gritted teeth. "You have my word for it," she promised.

He considered it, but then shook his head. "Lugum... there is another thing more powerful than _legacy_, that I found out while journeying through and making a rucckus in all of these poor pokémons' lives." Moving slowly and peacefully, he held out a single leaf for Lugum, a tiny speck lying on rough, weathered green hide. "It's _responsibility._ I know that they will most likely take me down soon, so that they can direct the army towards worse things than stealing a few flowers. But, little riolu, that's just the kind of beating I get for being a simpleton."

With a firm leap, Lugum bounced onto her feet, determination lighting up her eyes. "No! You are a _tyranitar, so fight back! _For Arceus's sake... it's practically in the job description of being one!"

"Sort of like being tough-as-nails and chronically feisty is in the job description of a riolu?" Lugum looked down guiltily, silenced by the acute observation. "If we don't fight our battles the way our hearts tell us to, we're going to be fighting an uphill battle. What progress did our tough-guy acts make? Absolutely nothing, I'd say." Once again, he pushed the leaf towards Lugum. "We have to be responsible for our actions, and we have to be responsible for who we are. Instead of leaving this crater behind, I came back and planted seeds in it. I use my hyper beam for farming, and once I accepted that again, this scar will now be real pretty."

Slowly, Lugum finally began to understand what Floret meant. The cuts on both of their foreheads, her aching body... she wanted to blame Floret for something that she did. If she had listened to her gut, and asked to talk to the tyranitar from the beginning, his head would not shine scarlet with blood. With an unsure paw, she grasped the leaf- _a Ho-Oh down_, a powerful salve that could seal most small wounds. With a quiet rumble, Floret shifted his head down, and Lugum tried her best to use the single leaf. "So... so you plan to quit?"

He nodded as Lugum wiped away the dried blood. "Yes. I wish to retrieve my son from Shellder Town and be on my way in the world. Perhaps, if my punishment is not long, I might even join a choir over here." A resounding thud came from the ground as he fell flat onto his stomach, his head almost crushing Lugum's arm. "Oops," he apologized. "Anyway... I only worry that if the battle is not won in Shellder Town's favor, there will be too much time for them to kill both me and my son. That way, you see, I have no heir to take my place. Which is why I was wondering... do you mind being my daughter until the battle is over? I'll give you something that I guarantee you'll find special."

"Say what now?" Lugum pulled away the leaf and wondered whether or not she should kick the tyranitar in the teeth and run. When her mind finally processed what Floret had told her, she cursed herself for being so dramatic. When she realized that there was a prize attached, she became even more interested. "Uh, yeah. Sure." With a gleeful smile, she looked on towards the path to Shellder Town. "I don't think you have to worry about your army winning, though. My team's got it under control.

* * *

"And what we are trying to say is that we have no control over where they go," the exhausted pidgeotto wheezed. Apparently, they had ran for hours in an attempt to avoid the ferals coming to Shellder Town's gates. "We cannot route their troops to another location, unless you want to suggest that we start making sacrifices." It probably killed the poor bird to be so out of sorts, from what Cistus could tell. The pokémon tried to keep his wings wrapped up, but they kept flying apart, trembling from exertion.

The town elder trembled less than the pidgeotto, but Cistus noticed. From the nervous skittering of the parasect, and the reciprocating glare from pidgeotto confirmed the fraxure's own suspicions. "You," the pikachu panting besides the bird accused, "you already knew all about this!"

As an answer the town elder turned away. "Yes. An emissary came here about two hours prior to your arrival, and he came bearing terms of treatise. I told nobody, because firstly we do not negotiate with bandits, and secondly... the terms are preposterous and impossible to carry out." Cistus glanced about, but the only pokémon out on the wide, long, and only street of Shellder Town were these two charting team members and the collectors they towed along. The parasect's act of disinformation would disgust the citizens, yet Cistus respected his wise ways.

The pikachu crossed his arms, finally regaining some composure. "So... what are these _preposterous_ terms? We don't have all night! We've got to set up some kind of defense, prepare a militia that we can use to reply-"

"Shellder Town will do no such thing!" The parasect reprimanded harshly. "We will let them come into town and search for themselves. When they see that the son of their rotten bandit king is not here, they will leave. Why would the son of such a putrid, violent beast come into the most peaceful town in all of Orchidia? Violence only spurs this baffling situation to go on- and we already have a team posted here."

Cistus had to bite his tongue before he either cried out or tried to defend his father. Floret was a dolt sometimes, yes, but he was neither putrid nor violent. He tried to tell his father that Prince was a scheming manipulator, but he would have none of it. So, he took his only other way out and ran to the safest town he could think of- and eventually came to great terms with its ideas. For now, however, he had to hold down bile that arose from his mounting fear. "I- I must take my leave and rest, in preparation for these negotiations tomorrow. It will be a long day, and a lack of sleep on our side may agitate the situation." The parasect nodded proudly and sent him away as he led the others to the other exploration team in town.

Shellder Town was simple in more than its convictions; the layout of the town was a single street with many building to the sides. Most of the structures were wooden, and a familiar noise to all of the town's residents was the wind whistling through the slips and cracks in the structures. As the fraxure rounded the alleyway that led to his home, he couldn't resist being angry. Farming was a chore, and conquering was much too violent. Why couldn't his father leave him alone?

At least there was one good thing in his lift, then. Awoken by the elder's knocking at his door, a gentle furret waited by the door, a worried look on her face. "Oh, Cistus. I had a feeling that there was a knock... what was it?" Moving her arm slowly, she adjusted the flowery pink scarf covering her eye. He always felt bad to be caught looking, but the consequence of what she only alluded to as a 'farming accident' always inspired worry.

After a quick embrace, he hastily moved into their room and pulled out a traveling pack. "The bandit army changed course and are coming here, and I think it best to avoid this altogether, Lilith. We will stay on the beach, dear, until this trouble has passed quietly by."

A flash of emotion flew through Lilith's good eye, yet disappeared as the fraxure turned to see it. "Oh," she said halfheartedly, "are you sure we have to leave? I don't want to abandon the town in a time of need- and you, as the elder's understudy..." if only he could tell her the truth. For now, shaking his head and telling her to start packing up supplies would have to do.

But she seemed determined to stay. "This is my _home_," she pleaded. "I want to stay with it, for worse and for better... what will the others think of us if we run?"

"What has you wanting to stay so badly?" Cistus snapped angrily.

It was a mistake to snap at her; a firm scowl covered her usually calm face. "You heard my reasons, Cistus. You make your choice now: you stay in town or you leave alone."

That was a cruel choice to propose, and Lilith had no idea of its disastrous implications. Shaking, Cistus came to the conclusion that he would take his chances with the town... if it only meant that he could keep her and protect her. But that didn't mean he needed to be happy about it. "We'll do things _your_ way, Lilith, but at a single sign of a danger we will run, got it?!" He threw down his bag furiously and attempted to storm out of the room.

As he stomped away, however, his heavy foot cracked one of the floorboards, causing it flip and hit the back of his leg. "What in the world- _huh?" _With a quick scoop, he tore out a straight-sword from the exposed ground. It's bland blade, without decorations or curves to be used in stylish flourishes, made it the sword of Orchidia the represented pure violence. Cistus couldn't have found something more blasphemous to Shellder Town's ways. "_Where did this come from?!" _He commanded Lilith, presenting it to her.

For a second, the furret seemed frozen in place, a paw still on her scarf, caught in the act of trying to adjust it. Then, suddenly, she grew faint, falling to the ground. "Oh," Lilith cried, "_the horror! Under our very own home! _Oh... I feel faint, Cistus. Please put it back from whence it came!"

"What? I will take it to the elder immediately!"

"While the town is in dire danger?" She retorted. It was a very aggressive reply that came from the faint furret. "No, no... we will hide its demonic presence away, and show him later. We must persevere this disgusting thing. It must be from the previous owners of this home... that disgusting, vile thing!"

She was right. Cistus quickly covered up the straight-sword and threw the panel back over it, making sure to remember which one the violent blade came from. After doing so, he immediately became exhausted from the night's stresses. "You are very wise, Lilith," he complimented. "Let us get you back to bed."

Hanging over the shoulder of the fraxure, Lilith could not take her horrified eyes off of the blade.


	24. Battle for Shellder Town: Liars

**Since I have other stuff to be doing during my usual update time, I will be unable to provide the typical 2,000- 3,000 word chapter. Typically, the pattern (especially for these special chapters) is to have half and half, a look into both parts. For today, that will be changed a little bit. I'm really sorry about the inconvenience, but life is life.**

**By the way: I'm really sorry, but this special series has gotten more important than I once considered it. Whoops. Hope that it is enjoyable enough to make up for that small lie :(. And speaking of lies:**

**Battle for Shellder Town: Liars**

The moment the Town Elder showed them into a small mess hall- pokémon in Shellder Town must eat as a community- Ago's anger immediately began to bubble up as old suspicions became revealed. "Team Raider?" He asked cautiously, trying not to sound furious, "what are you doing here?" Chivalry, long recovered from his battle with Daté, put a stop to his team meeting and turned to face the pikachu.

"A better question would be: what are _you_ doing here?" The gallade retorted. "Did Chatot not tell all exploration teams not assigned to the militia that involvement in this affair would be treated as insubordination? Fools." Working hard not to mimic Chivalry's pronunciation of 'fool'- which sounded more like _foo-elz, _Ago started asking the questions he really needed the answers to.

"Where is Daté?" He asked simply. The name itself brought a collective spike of anger and frustration to Team Raider. Chivalry and his fellow members, a roserade and a rhyperior, reacted to the name immediately. Chivalry himself looked down shamefully, and the pikachu nearly felt bad formally introducing themselves to the team this way. The roserade glowered at Ago while the rhyperior just gave a small grunt and waited for something else to happen. Being reminded of the time he was decommissioned by a drunk idiot must not be the best feeling in the world, for him or his friends.\.

And a worse feeling than that was encountered by the pikachu when Flightly sent a wing into the back of his head. The smashing blow sent stars to the front of his eyes and blurred his vision. Before Ago could cuss or strike back at the annoying bird, the pidgeotto shoved by Team Reapers. "You three fill them in while I enact some much-needed discipline onto this pikachu," he commanded. Stem nodded meekly, went forward, and started up her usual quiet whisper. The tables, pushed to the side in order to provide more room to Team Raider, became adequate cover for Ago's chastisement.

Ago held the pack of his head with his paws; Flightly didn't hold anything back with that hit. "What the _hell?!" _Ago complained, trying to rub away the ensuing pain. "What made you think that was a good idea?"

Flightly took him down low, breaking his beak in close so that Team Raider could not catch a stray word or two. "Damn it, Ago," Flightly hissed, "you are disrespecting one of the greatest exploration teams- they are master-rank charters, collectors _and_ guardians. It is rumored that they are giving Guild Master Wigglytuff a serious challenge for his position."

He knew that it would most likely bring on another attack from the pidgeotto, but Ago couldn't help laughing. "_Them, _the next guild leaders?!" He chuckled silently. "Mister _foo-el _over there, a guild master? You don't seriously expect that-" and then came the expected hit. This time, Ago had had enough; as the wing collided into his stomach, he sent a closed claw forward and planted it right in the spot where Flightly's beak connected with his face. Other than his tussle with Daté, it was the first time he really used his claws to hit something- it felt fairly good. _  
_

The hit made the pidgeotto stoop down and unwrap his wings, his eyes tearing up with pain. "_Do not hit me there, oh, ah_! Oh Arceus," Ago became concerned as Flightly was forced to breath heavily in order to deal with the excruciating pain. Small sobs came from the pidgeotto as he tried everything within his power to shake the blow off. Did the pikachu really hit that hard?

"Whoa, sorry," Ago coughed out- Flightly's attack on his stomach had knocked the wind out of him. "I didn't know. Are you okay?"

"_Me okay__!" _Flightly hissed as he covered his head with his wings. Ago had to do a double check, to be sure he had heard the bird properly. It sounded more like a grunt a primitive cave-dweller would belt out.

Yet in an instant, the more refined pidgeotto was back. "I am fine," He corrected, wiping his teary eyes. "I have very sensitive scars there, so avoid it in the future, please." If there really was a scar, Ago couldn't see it. "Anyway, if Team Wayfarers becomes at odds with Team Raider, that will break Lugum's heart. I am just as surprised as you are about Daté's apparent misdirection... but hold it in, okay?"

He was more than surprised; Ago was fully pissed off that the grovyle had lied about his intentions and disappeared for two months. What would Lugum's reaction be to the news? The poor, foolish grovyle would return from his two-month hiatus, attempt to greet the volatile riolu, and end up missing a few of his teeth. Or worse: throw Lugum back into her usual, awkward self. Ago felt nearly certain of that one thing; the riolu was definitely going to blame herself for his departure. The most that could be done now, however, was to eventually get some insight into what really happened.

And the chance to do it walked out the door and slammed it behind him. "Pardon Chivlary and me, but we have a new task to look after," the roserade apologized. Apparently they had something to do that Ago had no clue about; Flightly, somehow clued in, followed. And Team Reapers left along with them. Only an unconcerned rhyperior remained in the room, and in a moment he fell into his own business of organizing his team's equipment. The rhyperior honestly intimidated the hell out of Ago, but the pikachu wouldn't let the issue with Daté rest. Plus, out of all three of them, he seemed the least afflicted by Daté's name.

"Can't leave it alone?" The giant pokémon grunted before Ago even spoke. "Hm. That Daté... a shame he skipped town because of that fight, especially since I had a few things to ask him."

"So you think he left because he was scared?" Ago asked slowly, trying to get him to say more. "He told me that he was going off to help in your exploration, since he hurt Chivalry..."

Finally, the rhyperior stopped sorting out various leaves and turned to face Ago, and his expression showed that he wasn't pleased.. "Aren't you going to even ask for my name? You're being more than a little rude, Ago. I don't like seeing that in a guide- especially one that was trained by Spikes. Did he even try to teach you some manners?"

Ago felt a little embarrassed at being called out for his lack of manners, and that embarrassment turned into guilt. Already, five minutes into conversation he was risking Team Wayfarer's relationship with the master-rank explorers. "Hey, I'm really sorry," he said desperately, "it's just that I'm a little angry that he tricked us. So, uh... what is your name?"

The rhyperior chuckled. "I'm Dyne. And no need to get bureaucratic... be courteous because you want to, not because you're worried we'll not invite you to our birthday parties... or something." Dyne laid a large paw on Ago's shoulder which the pikachu struggled to keep up. "And don't you worry a mite about Daté tricking you," he told Ago. "He tricks tons of pokémon. In fact, he even had Chivalry and Pervádere fooled. They're pretty observant."

"What do you mean? Are you talking about when he hustled Chivalry into that fight?" Ago asked.

Dyne shook his head. "Even before that. It became more conspicuous when he disappeared that he didn't have an actual exploration team with him. In fact, Chatot was busy cleaning out his room two weeks ago when he found six explorer medals buried in the corner- medals that the lying grovyle assured he gave to his fellow 'brothers' on his team. Basically, Daté's been running about on advanced charting missions all by himself."

It _was _odd that Daté made no attempt to connect with his teammates after the arguments... but something like this was simply impossible. Unthinkable. "No way!" Ago cried out, shocked. "He'd have to be writing down notes while he fought and kept an eye on his provisions!" It would literally be writing with the one arm and fighting with the other.

The only response Ago's argument got was a nod. "I agree... but he did it anyway, somehow."

"Shouldn't Wigglytuff or Chatot stop stuff like that? Chatot usually flips his lid if someone break a rule. On top of that, it's fucking dangerous!" Ago argued. "Sorry about the language," he hastily added in afterwards.

A great, heaving sigh came from the rhyperior. "It's only us in the room, I suppose... and I'm no good at keeping secrets anyway. Wigglytuff suspected from the very beginning, about five months ago, that Daté worked alone. Our Guild Master is old though, you see, and he needs a replacement. Chatot says that the Guild Master pardoned the oversight in order to test Daté."

Ago gaped at Dyne, not wanting to believe what he was saying. "Wait, don't tell me that-"

"You were there when that grovyle and Guild Master Wigglytuff got into that fight, right?" Ago remembered it well: the crashing door, the flying shrapnel, and the small brawl between him and Daté. He nodded silently. "Daté was pissed off because Wigglytuff wanted to push the position of Guild Master onto him. Probably didn't like the fact that he would be watched and looked up to all the time."

Thankfully a table was nearby, or else he would have fell on his ass right then and there. Instead, he leaned back and tried to make sense of the situation. "The leader of the most famous exploration guild in Orchidia... was almost put under the leadership of a _drunk_? And he physically fought to _avoid it?_ Arceus," Ago muttered, "I can't help but think what Lugum, our Team Leader, would have done. Her head would fucking explode on the spot, I think." The undertone of Dyne's explanations was obvious: Team Raider definitely considered the grovyle to be up to no good. And with his sneaking out, who could blame them?

Before anything else was said, the door creaked as someone entered. The pokémon, twisting her body about the small crack in the door, put both Dyne and Ago into silence. His fur, much like Lugum and mostly any pokémon with fur, couldn't help getting it frayed or slightly dirty. Yet the limber furret in front of them nearly shone with perfection and a soft pink scarf with patterned flowers covered one of her eyes and flowed down the length of her body like a waterfall. If Ago's previous humanity didn't inherently help him against things like this, he guessed, then the sheer gentle smile of the furret would have brought him in faster than quicksand.

"Oh, was I bothering you?" She whispered respectfully. "I should knock next time. Please forgive me."

"N-no!" Dyne cried out desperately. "Y-you're doing just fine." He was completely lost for words.

"...Thank you," she said politely. "Cistus wanted to let you both know that two pokémon from the bandit army have come to parley with the exploration teams posted here. While your teammates search for the bandit king's son, it is our elder's will that you speak with this bandit king and his daughter."

Dyne shook his head, clearing out temptation with business. "We've been tracking this army for the better part of two weeks now, and no news about Tamerflame having a daughter has surfaced. Who is she?"

"A riolu named Lugum."

From the look Dyne gave him, Ago knew that he was in big trouble. "Damn it, Lugum, what are you doing?" He muttered under his breath. Trying to avoid questions, he quickly walked out of the mess hall so that he could find out.

* * *

**It ended up being two thousand words. Hooray.**


	25. Battle for Shellder Town: Disaster

**Battle for Shellder Town: Disaster**

"S-Stem?" Bud whimpered to his Team Leader.

The shaking bellossom turned to the venonat. "Y-yeah, Bud?"

"I'm really scared. I want to go home now."

"We're explorers..."

Ago thought that an excellent way to describe the situation: scary. Apparently, the furret hadn't been nearly as precise as she could have been; there was definitely a tyranitar and riolu in front, but they did not come alone. The entire feral army lied in wait, their tamers flanking them and ready to give the command to attack. To think that nearly all of Shellder Town was peacefully sleeping through it was awe-inspiring. Ago cursed their luck- when they had sneaked by them earlier in the night in order to reach Shellder Town, they were all asleep. Why wake up and confront the guild at the crack of dawn?

If he squinted, Ago could see a sliver of sunrise peeking out from behind a tall grey mountain. If Lugum gained enough influence in the army, then why didn't she try to stop this? And what in Arceus's name led up to this adoption, anyway? Even from a distance, she looked neither victimized nor tortured- in fact, she almost appeared _pleased._

According to reports on the army's numbers, the odds currently stood at fifty bandits versus eight explorers- and three of that eight owned no battle experience, and the three pokémon they needed the most were busy searching for the bastard's son. Their only hope was to find what the tyranitar desired, and time started to tick away as the sun rose and Lugum started yelling out and waving to the pikachu.

Lugum tripped in the middle of her gleeful skip, yet rolled out of the tumble and continued on. "Hey, Ago!" She shouted, "I'm okay!" The closer she ran towards them, the more on guard Dyne got. Each step only exacerbated the tension in the air. The explorer probably held no reservations when it came to attacking her the moment she posed a threat. Luckily, Tamerflame dashed forward and scooped her up before any real damage could ensue. "Lemme go!" Lugum whined to her new father, "my team is probably worried sick about me!"

Tamerflame didn't think highly of these antics, so he resolved the problem by tossing her off to the side like a doll. She landed on her feet, but the sheer gall of the tyranitar to throw around Ago's teammate was ridiculous and infuriating. "Hey!" He shouted at the bandit king, "don't toss her around like a fucking toy!" A fight with a pokémon who could unleash a hyper beam a third of a mile long should have been something to avoid, but if Ago backed down now, Tamerflame would come into town thinking he could get whatever he wanted. With master-rank explorers on their side, Ago felt certain that the giant could be taken down if he tried to attack.

Yet he only became more amused by the pikachu's anger. "Haha, I've learned a lot of things about your Team Leader. For one, she is mighty durable. Secondly, she is absolutely ready to inherent the empire I am building. She isn't your teammate any longer, you tough-talking piece of shit." Lugum jumped forward and whispered something to the tyranitar. "I mean... you tough-talking silly mouse."

"Pardon me for interrupting this... _reunion_," the Town Elder scoffed, "but I would like to have you clearing out immediately. We do not have your son, Tamerflame. You best be on your way."

"You see," Tamerflame told the parasect as he shifted forward, "that's shit and I know it. A scout of mine found someone who seemed very much like my son in your town. So you go and retrieve him... or I'll do it. Trust me on this: after I'm done with this place, no one will consider this shit hole a place of peace as long as it stands- which probably wouldn't be very long. I mean, it's just a single street? All I have to do is move a bit to the side, and I can level most of your buildings with a single, fucking attack. In fact, I think-"

"Hehe," Lugum chuckled nervously, "I think that's a little overboard, Flor- Tamerflame!" Things became brighter as the sun entered onto the scene, and it lit up the tyranitar towering over the Town Elder quite well. The pacifistic pokémon quaked, as all of his scruples, all of the 'what if's of avoiding violence, became his only defense.

He was suddenly very unsure of his previous assertions. "P-please, give us a description... anything we may go on- we can't work off the bits and pieces you have given us."

"_We kill them now__?" _Came a yell from the army of ferals. They were getting fairly impatient with the parley. Up close, Ago could see which ones- the rowdiest, he presumed- had to be tied up to ropes and held by the tamers. Tamerflame held up a claw, asking for more time, and Ago sighed with relief. If the time came where the ferals attacked without Flightly, Chivarly and Pervádere, Ago knew his priority was to save Team Reapers while Dyne held them off.

Tamerflame nodded. "Okay, you're right! Probably should have started with that... I really need some sleep." They could all use a good nap, Ago admitted to himself. "He's a fraxure. That should be a pretty big fucking bit, right?" A fraxure... the Town Elder's assistant? In a way, Ago could see reason in his running away... but in terms of ideals his choice of town showed a total 180 degree shift.

The parasect backed up a bit, appalled. "My assistant Cistus is no son of yours! He is the most peaceable, agreeable, non-violent being to ever enter this town! He has solved more disputes using his words in a few weeks than any of my assistants in the past could handle in months! Cistus is a natural-born diplomat-"

"If you keep telling me my son is a pansy," Tamerflame growled, "I'm going to make you regret it." The parasect shrunk away under the threat. "If he isn't my son, why is he hiding? Where is your 'assistant' now, you old shit?" Once again, Lugum quietly spoke to the tyranitar. "A-hem. You old not-warmongering creep."

Ago's eyes widened as he noticed that, in fact, Cistus ran off and hid. "He sent that furret to get us, too," Ago pointed out to Dyne, "instead of getting us himself." At the mention of the furret, she suddenly emerged from a nearby alleyway between a restaurant and an old flower shop. Dyne had told her to stay at the other side of the town, but it seemed like she couldn't stay away, for whatever reason. Weren't pokémon in this town supposed to abhor violence?

She wiped her open eye with the scarf covering the other, her face covered with distress. The scarf now wrapped itself tightly around her left leg- probably so that she could run away without tripping on it. "I am Cistus's love, Lilith!" She asserted. For discovering that your love is the son of a bandit king, her voice still remained incredibly refined and harmonious. "You lie, filthy lord of vermin! My Cistus loves me too much to be your son!"

Tamerflame snorted. "Tell that to his mother, who died just months ago, from the long-lasting implications of his birth," he told her. "Your little pretty face will never be enough to reverse _that _love, you bitch." Lugum let the vulgar insult go on uncorrected, and the tyranitar appeared legitimately frustrated and upset. "Is it because your loss of an eye has stolen your depth-perception... that you can't even see how shallow you truly are?"

That insult made most of the members attendant at the parley flinch. Even Dyne put out a sympathetic _ooh._ Lilith clutched her scarf tightly. "I... I didn't know that," she responded, shame ruining the perfect tone of her voice. Ago never even considered that the scarf was covering an injured eye, but now that she used it to create a curtain between her and Tamerflame, it became more apparent. "I'm sorry. But... but I'm not shallow." Lilith rebounded, her voice regaining its soothing edge.

"I lost my eye, Tamerflame, on my father's farm, which grew quickweed- hard nourishment for explorers. Before my incident, I was known as the 'Princess of Quickweed'... I was so beautiful, and gaining popularity with many powerful pokémon." Lilith rubbed her paw across the pink scarf slowly and regretfully. "The scruples of this town seemed so wonderful; my beauty bloomed under the peace, each representing the other. That is, until I became an embarrassment, all due to a simple missed step. Walking back after a day of hard work uprooting quickweed, I accidentally planted one of my feet on the end of a farming tool, sending its shaft towards my eye. The splinters of the resulting fracture stabbed and blinded me permanently in my left eye, as you have commented upon."

She wiped away a tear with her scarf again. "The exploration teams that came to purchase quickweed... they would always ask. A-and when I told them, they all laughed at me! They thought the mundane circumstances of my injury invalidated my worth as a pokémon. Without a history of battles with which to excuse my scars, I became an embarrassment to all of my suitors. If I had only been more violent... they would still love me."

"Do not speak such blasphemous words!" The Town Elder warned, "I will have you exiled for wishing such things!"

"You are a silly little pokémon," she noted calmly. "But I am silly too. When I said that Cistus is my love, its authenticity faltered. Truly, I was only seeking a way out. And to know that this fraxure is the son of a bandit king... he disappoints me with his passivity when I sought for his aggression! We are all violent, violent creatures. Bloody and messy, only the gloriously wounded will attract the worthy suitors. My fall has taught me a single thing. Even princesses... are forced to kill for their dreams!" Throwing a paw into the folds of her long pink scarf, she withdrew a long, skinny blade. Lilith pointed it back and held it against her body. Falling to all fours, she kept her balance with her left paw, while the right stayed poised and ready.

The Town Elder was obviously not pleased. "Blasphemer! How dare you expose such a violent tool in the streets of our town? I hereby command you to exile!"

A gentle laugh came from the furret. "Thank you, it is all I have ever wished for from you, old coot. Ago's mind worked furiously, trying to comprehend what he was witnessing.

Tamerflame laughed heartily. "_Ha!" _He roared, pointing at the furret. "Do you come from the East, Lilith? The way you have compromised for your inability to properly swing a straight-sword is purely Altasan! It's a shame that we're mutually disappointed in Cistus, or else I'd give you my blessing in a heartbeat!"

This caused the furret to erupt into manic laughter. "_See? See Town Elder?" _She cried out, rising back up to her feet so that she could point at Tamerflame. "I become dangerous and they all love me! _They want to see me get bloody!_"

"You're nothing but a whore for the evil that is violence!" The parasect retorted. "You've performed a dark Sabbath with that devilish blade, and now your mind is corrupted!"

Lugum took a step forward. "Stop being so intolerant!" She reprimanded. "I think she looks very pretty holding the sword like that. It all flows very well." Leave it to the Team Leader to completely miss the fact that the furret was having a total breakdown. Ago was probably going to be next, at this rate; an imminent battle in a town full of pacifists approached; Lugum adopted as the daughter of Tamerflame, the newest bandit lord; a furret accused of being possessed by a sword; Daté proposed as serious candidate for the leadership of the Wigglytuff Guild. Nothing made sense anymore, and it boiled his mind.

As for the oddity at hand, even Dyne sided with the tyranitar. "This helps even the odds, in the case that we do battle. Why complain, if you are unwilling to volunteer yourself?"

The poor parasect, only trying to uphold what had been taught to him by his ancestors, found himself cornered. "She could be my second daughter that I adopt! Ha, with these two following me around, I won't even need an army! Would you mind having a sister, Lugum?"

"That sounds great!"

"_No-oo-o!" _Came a long-winded shout. Ago was sure that he had finally lost his wits; Gastro, leashed to a tamer, snapped through the rope and began to sprint towards Lugum. "I know that this is a delicate situation,_" _he roared, "but that riolu has always been like a daughter to me!"

Lugum stared at the mightyena, unable to believe her eyes. "What? _Gastro?_ How in Orchidia did you end up inside the feral army?!"

Ago respected the amount of bravery it took to push himself between Lugum and Tamerflame. "You forgot your lunch that I packed for you," he answered. "I told you not to get too excited and leave early, and then you did so anyway! Do you even listen to half the stuff I say? I think it is pretty important that you at least try, because I'm your _boss_, you know."

The riolu looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, sir."

"You better be! I saw that you got yourself captured, so I infiltrated their ranks by acting like a stray feral, ripe for capture. It only took me putting out my tongue and acting extremely stupid to sell the act." Ago knew it to be a good thing that Flightly wasn't around to hear that. "You left with him during the nighttime, so I followed. And then he started swaying you with all this talk about how he really doesn't want to lead the army, and that all he wants is the world is to be responsible and save his son. He doesn't need help to crush his own army, so I think this little trick with making you his daughter is so greedy, because he already has a child-"

Lugum leaped over and covered the mightyena's mouth. "No, Gastro, no!" Tamerflame's confident expression turned to horror as murmurs started rising up in his ranks. Ago didn't know armies very well, but it sounded like this one just received the perfect excuse to pose a mutiny.

In a final, desperate attempt to keep control, Tamerflame began roaring orders at his army. "_They are lying, don't you see? Stand ready, do not attack!" _

But the ferals were too bloodthirsty, and the tamers too impatient for a chance to seize his position. "Now we see his true colors," a politoed shouted out. "Attack the traitorous bandit king! Slay all of these pokémon for the sake of our conquests!"

One by one, the tamers let go of their leashes. The ferals not attached to rope charged forward by the droves. And all the while, Flightly and the others were nowhere to be found. The situation had hit absolute zero. As the small group slowly retreated, Ago mustered the only word he knew to describe this kind of situation:

"Fuck."


	26. Battle for Shellder Town: The Battle

**Battle for Shellder Town: The Battle**

Everything would end up okay, Ago told himself. He prepared for this situation mentally- save Team Reapers, let rhyperior distract the onslaught of foes. As much sense as this made, however, Ago found himself unable to move. "What are you doing, idiot?" He muttered to himself, trying to will his legs to move. They would not listen. The situation froze him in place, as it did to Lugum and Tamerflame. They all fought with the same question: _do we fight or do we run_?"

With the tyranitar mutually endangered, and Lugum back on their side, their stood the slimmest of chances that they could spook the ferals. Ago knew that hiding was safer- when wasn't it? But at that point, opportunity and the fervor of the others kept him rooted to the ground, a claw plunged into his satchel. Even Team Reapers readied their provisions and did their best to form a defensive line; The choice to fight unanimously rose above all other options, and only a single parasect ran away- his town not important enough to forsake his 'values'. If Ago followed suit, Lugum and the others would never let it go.

"_Agh... fuck it!_" He roared, drawing out his sword. "Fight until the rest of our allies arrive!" Closing his eyes, he forced himself forward, trying to get his nervous body next to Lugum. The riolu only stared at the approaching ferals, their stampeding slowly creating a low rumble. Soon, all of Shellder Town would awake, and witness what Ago knew them to simply call 'blasphemy'. To them, it was survival. "Lu, Flightly and the others aren't here yet," he told her. "Do you think we really have a chance to hold out?" He asked, trusting her instinct more than his own. She glanced out at the attackers again, and then gave him a single, confident nod. "And you're not liking that fucking army of yours still, are you, Tamerflame?" The tyranitar coughed out a nervous laugh; that would just have to count as a _yes._

Lilith, Dyne, and Team Reapers came forward. "Their blood will match my scarf!" The furret promised as she fell back into her stance.

"As close together as they are, this will be a cinch for someone as hardheaded as I!" Dyne roared, getting ready to charge.

A timid bellossom averted her eyes from the scene. "I sure hope no one gets hurt. O-on our side, I mean. Team Reapers, ready what we've got!" Bud and Seed flanked their Team Leader, ready to defend her decision at any cost.

"I..." Gastro looked around guiltily. "_Oh, you stupid mightyena! _Always causing trouble for everyone..." Lugum shrugged indifferently. Really, she probably thought that it was only a matter of time anyway.

Everyone seemed pretty fired up... at that moment, something in Ago flared up, something that battled for more than logical or superficial reasons. He could have fun with this. "Spread out and don't let them surround us!" He commanded. What right he had to tell a master-rank explorer, his superiors, a 'princess' and another exploration team what to do, Ago couldn't guess. But in the heat of the moment, they all conformed.

The ferals were thirsty for blood, but even they knew the dangers of piling up. Only as many as a dozen could file themselves into the wide street of Shellder Town without harming each other with their own attacks. A small advantage, but an advantage nonetheless. In the chaos of their scrambling, Ago found himself next to Lilith, facing a sawsbuck and a scraggy next to a dingy wooden guard post at the front of the town. They wouldn't be so intimidating if their mouths stopped frothing and their eyes lost that bloodthirsty spark.

Shouting out excitedly, the sawsbuck jumped at Ago. He knew why: the feral knew that his lackluster stance and shaky arms made him the weaker target. Scared and incredulous at the same time, Ago gripped his sword and swung it outwards at the sawsbuck. The fast movements of the pokémon shocked Ago as it slid under his sword and threw itself into a headbutt. The pikachu barely managed to roll to safety, avoiding the crippling attack. Desperate to avoid being trampled down, Ago once again stabbed forward. This time, he managed to get a solid cut across the sawsbuck, which dropped to the ground and quickly writhed away.

Lilith jumped on the injured feral before it could ever recover, leaping back and forth. The sword in her right paw never moved, only twisted as it slid through the sawsbuck and cut it down to size. The scraggy, now less eager to capitalize, hissed and backed away. "Oh, _Arceus_," Lilith groaned. She twisted her body quickly, throwing off some of the blood. "_Don't run!" _She pleaded, "_come and get some more!" _Giggling, she chased after the fleeing scraggy into the mass of ferals waiting outside of the town.

_"_Stop, Lilith! Don't go out so far!" Ago shouted out after her. But it was too late; Lilith had already ran out into the midst of the enemy. Not that it mattered much, since the feral army soon converged, abandoning their caution for their desire to get inside the populated town. Working quickly, Ago picked up his nearly-useless blade and dived into the nearby shack, barely avoiding attention from the ferals.

"Lu!" He shouted out hopelessly again and again- all he could do was hope that she found him before the ferals noticed the free food in the guard post. Luck was not on his side, though, because in a matter of minutes they discovered his hiding place. The flowing river of hungry ferals clogged the door, only their numbers preventing them from making it through. An ursaring, grizzly and furious, crashed through the too-small entrance and stumbled towards him.

A tiny sword acted only as a prick in the giant beast's side, and Ago could not force the dull thing to go through the bear's hide. A quick kick that sent Ago into the back of the room ensured that the ursaring could secure his kill. What else was there to do, other than wait? Instead, Ago instinctively closed his eyes and began to whistle. High, low, and then high again. He didn't know where the act came from, but it comforted him in what would most likely become the final moments of his life.

Suddenly, a high pitched ring entered his ears and drowned out the whistle. A bright blue beam erupted outside of the guard post, smashing away all of the the frenzied pokémon. The guard house lit up blue, and Ago was forced to cover his ears against the ringing's devastating crescendo. Tamerflame had just heard his whistle and saved his life. The smell of signed skin and fur quickly arose, and Ago capitalized on his chance to take on the distracted ursaring. He leaped onto the beast's face and slashed at the eyes with all of his might. The creature groaned and roared back at the attacks as they stumbled out the way they came.

A very upset riolu dashed forward, smashing the ursaring in the stomach so hard that it threw off the pikachu. The creature wheezed and backed away, but Lugum tripped kicked out its legs from under it. The thing fell like a giant tree, and Lugum sent both paws flying into its chest, knocking it away from her friend. "Ago," she gasped, unable to get enough air, "are you... are you okay?"

He stood up and nodded while limping into a nearby alleyway- the hyper beam cleared out a good dozen of the ferals, but many more were already trying to take their place. "Yeah," was his breathless answer, "thanks to you and..." Ago eyes widened with shock. Tamerflame was nowhere to be seen. Could it be? "Wait... where is he?"

"Who?"

"Tamerflame. He heard me whistling, so he unleashed that crazy fucking hyper beam..."

Lugum grinned and gave a rigid salute to the pikachu. "Nope, just me _plowing the fields_, Ago!"

He gaped at his Team Leader. "Wait a minute... you _did that?"_

She nodded meekly. "Oh, it isn't that great. All I did was scream really loud... it leaves a great aftertaste, I guess. I wonder if there is a way for Gastro to add it to a dish..."

"Oh fuck!" Ago shouted excitedly, ignoring her senseless banter. "Attagirl, Lu! That's fucking amazing!"

"No," she responded, holding her arm. "_Amazing_ would be if it stopped the ferals from breaking into the town and slaughtering innocent townsfolk. Team Raider and Floret- I mean, Tamerflame- are the ones out there putting a stop to it. That's why Team Raider is master-rank... and why Tamerflame is a tyranitar." Even now, Ago heard the desperate cries of ferals being denied breakfast... and their lives. "Don't feel bad," Lugum told him, "they aren't like Flightly. They've been raised just to kill, and we don't have the stuff to change that... that's what Flightly said, at least. I can tell that this hurts him." The riolu looked away guiltily.

Ago agreed, if only to help Lugum cope. Finding someone to hate ever since he arrived in Orchidia has been way too hard. The closest he ever got was hating Large Smash, but that hatred never got the chance to cultivate itself. "Now what happens? Do we go back out there?" Ago asked halfheartedly. To tell the truth, he wanted to run and stay at the same time. He had to get another chance... one that didn't involve hiding away.

Reaching out, Lugum gripped onto Lugum's claw and started dragging him down the alleyway. "We have something very special to do for Tamerflame. There is this politoed named Prince who manipulated him, and I bet he'll run the moment he realizes that him and his army of tamers lost." She dragged him forward and broke out into a run. "Let's go teach him a lesson before he can get away!"

The break definitely didn't last long enough, but Ago couldn't help but follow this powerful riolu.


	27. Battle for Shellder Town: Showdown

**Battle for Shellder Town: Showdown**

By using the alleyways to their advantage, Lugum and Ago easily circumvented the bulky mass of ferals attacking the town. From this distance, looking into the now-sunny wooden town, a pokémon on the other side would never know of the battle going on behind the ferals- Flightly, Lilith, and Team Reapers all looked to have beat the riolu to the punch. Evidence of a violent struggle showed up all over the ground, both tamers and Lugum and Ago's allies collapsed on the slightly dead grass. Lugum's eyes widened as a hobbling Flightly shot out towards Prince.

The furious pidgeotto squawked as one of the tamers, a gligar, smacked him away mid-charge, sending him sprawling away from his intended target. While most of the tamers had already been brought down by the five pokémon, each of them looked too exhausted to continue. Lilith had obtained her fill of violence, yet tried valiantly to get enough energy in her body to continue lashing out at the two remaining foes. Whatever Team Reapers's contribution had been, it left a crater outside of Shellder Town, and all three couldn't pick themselves off of the ground. "Stupid brats!" Prince laughed, throwing out a wing towards them, "just because we have ferals do our dirty work doesn't mean we are pushovers!"

"You are all just big bullies!" Lugum shouted, catching Prince's attention. "Never thinking about anyone other than yourselves!"

Prince's smug grin turned to mush as he realized that reinforcements had broken through the ferals. He backed away slowly, and the gligar's eyes darted about, looking for the best way to run. "Pokémon like you have hurt poor ferals like Flightly, sending them out into dangerous situations... it's despicable! And manipulating Floret... that poor farmer! You will never s... stop." Lugum bent down to recover from her rant, and Ago once again felt fear bubbling in his chest. He prayed that what was apparent turned out not to be true. He pleaded inwardly with all of his might...

As Lugum's rant faltered, Prince slowly brought back his grin. "What are you going to do about it?" The politoed asked, fanning the flames of her anger. "Your fieriness is nothing more than a novelty. Like Floret's large body, it only serves to cover up what a dumb, reckless animal you are!"

Recovering slightly, Lugum threw herself forward. "_Agh! _I don't have to take this from you!" Knowing what came next, Ago covered his ears. "Watch as this _novelty_ unleashes a hyper beam!" She shouted with much pride. "_**R-aaaaa-h**... ack?!" _

It was all too expected by the pikachu; Lugum fell to the ground, heaving and coughing out. Small red specks started to dot the grass in front of her, turning pink as they mingled with the morning dew. "Lugum, you used hyper beam?" Flightly asked after he slowly picked up his body. After watching the riolu nod in between retches and pained sobs, Flightly's eyes flashed with anger. "_You idiot_! You have brought forth the latent power saved up from never using the aura and started unleashing it in other ways..." he shook his head, eyes full of concern. "In other words, you used an attack you aren't supposed to do... you scarred the inside of your throat! It w-was only a matter of time before you started to choke on the bleeding it left behind... Lugum..."

Ago looked on with horror as Lugum's coughing got worse, and so did its implications. Lugum, Flightly, even Team Reapers... his inexperience saved him so far from expending any energy like they had. Now, at the eve of the battle's end, only he stood ready to finish things. Should he take Lugum and try to escape through the ferals? Would Lugum survive without help? His eyes shot open as a small _thud_ marked Lugum falling to her side- it reminded him of another option. If he stalled for long enough, then Lugum might...

It was probably the thought all of Team Wayfarers had the moment she fell over, her breathing falling into a rhythmic, shallow heave. He watched her, waiting for some sign on what she wanted. Prince started to laugh. "Haha, I don't even have to touch them anymore! It is all like I said she was: a dumb animal with no way to reserve herself. Of course Floret wanted to make her his daughter."

The insults served to give Lugum the small burst of strength she needed to give Ago a sign. Lifting her head up slowly, she looked at the pikachu and began to mouth something. _W... W... D... D? _Ago cursed his stupidity- obviously he had missed the meaning of the all-too important phrase. Yet, while racking his mind for an answer, it came to him. Even in the dire situation, he couldn't help but be indignant towards what the riolu recommended. "For fuck's sake, Lu," he whispered underneath the politoed's ranting, "are you serious? _What would Daté Do?" _She nodded weakly.

She didn't even know this new information about the grovyle- Lugum only knew him for about a day- but his impression on her allowed to her pose a very mighty question to Ago. What _would_ the prospective Guild Master, the pokémon who cleared out dungeons alone, the duelist who fought master-rank explorers with a slight buzz... do?

Ago heard the noises of the ferals' defeat in the distance, the almighty composition of Team Raider and Tamerflame making quick work of his ranks. Like Daté's trick with the shadow... maybe all truly great strategies began with a streak of insanity and confusion. Once again, he put his whistling skills to use. "Hey, shit-brained ferals, check this out!" He shouted to the few remaining lines left standing. They very back row turned first, and attracted the others with their excited whines.

"W-what in Arceus's name are you doing?" Prince screamed. "They'll devour everyone!"

"Wow, look at this free meal!" He continued. "Why deal with all of this army crap when everything you need is lying down over here!" One by one, the feral army reversed its charge, bolting towards the easier choice of the two. The politoed and the gligar whined and groaned as they saw the huge mass mercilessly approaching. With not Floret to indoctrinate them, they would have a hard time not becoming a meal.

With the two tamers too busy trying to get a head start on running, Ago pointed to the ground and threw himself down besides Lugum, trying to get the others to do the same. Eventually he had them all on the ground, exactly where they needed to be to survive. It surprised and pleased Ago that these tamers didn't even know as much about ferals as a good guide did. "One important note to remember is that ferals have a very limited set of priorities," Spikes had once told him. "It's certainly odd, but they work in an odd order even though they hunt to survive."

"For some reason," Spikes taught him, "they work from healthiest to weakest."

Feet and talons of all kinds stampeded by him, only the feral's desire to return to a clean kill keeping them from trampling him. Far away- but not far enough- Ago winced at the piercing yells of a hunted gligar and politoed. The dozen or ferals left made quick work of them. A small meal achieved, they abandoned the town and sprinted away, back to wherever they came from. "Everyone's okay, right?" Ago asked slowly, hoping that a feral didn't scoop up a free bellossom or furret. But everyone was there, and Ago smiled; for once, _he_ did something right. "W-W-D to the fucking D, Lu," he laughed.

Comfort took over his stress-wearied mind as the riolu gave the smallest hint of a smile.

* * *

"And that's what happened!" Lugum shouted excitedly, waving her arms about. "Ago is a huge hero!"

Chatot scowled, his eyes blazing with indignation. "And this Tamerflame and his son, and the furret... what happened to them?"

Flightly shrugged. "Tamerflame was offered an invitation from Team Raider, after his excellent performance in Shellder Town." This seemed to get the bird excited, and he quickly gestured for the pidgeotto to go on. "Lugum said that, since he loved farming so much, he should consider joining Team Reapers instead."

The look coming from the Commanding Officer could freeze ice. "Team Reapers... the _collecting_ team?"

The riolu laughed and clapped her paws. "He loved the idea! Right now, he's helping his son clean up Shellder Town- the previous Town Elder had to back down after being a yellow-bellied pushover. They're bonding... _aww..._" She squirmed a little under that undying stare. "B-but if you are mad that we didn't recruit him... we got Lilith to come back with us! She still wants to impress one of her old suitors... so I took her in."

It started as a slow chuckle that gradually transformed into the kind of laugh one has during a mental breakdown. "Hee, hee, _ho! Ha! Squawk! Heehee hoo haw hee whooooo! Not only did you turn the tyranitar away from joining our guild, you've exempted Lilith for getting psychological help by inviting her to your team! Woo! Ha! Hee h-h-h-eee-eeee..." _His head cocked to the side as he tried to relax himself. "There... is a moral in all explorations- and this has one as well. W-want to know the moral of this little story, Lugum?"

Excited, Lugum hopped out of her chair. "Yes, sir, yes!"

"Do you _really _want to know?"

"More than anything!"

"Really, really, _really _want to know?"

"Don't hold back, Commanding Officer!"

The Chatot smacked the riolu over the head.

"_**You are all fucking suspended! Ignora-mus-eeeeee-s! Aiyee!" **__  
_


	28. Approaches

"Lu, how many days in a row are you planning to set this up?" Ago asked, tugging on some of the frilly decorations she had set up around their cave. Two weeks after the situation in Shellder Town, Lugum excitedly awaited for the return of Daté- even so he had in every way lied and used her hospitality the day the grovyle recovered at her house. "What makes you think he'll even come back here? He's an ass."

The anxious riolu shook her head. "No! Today is the day he'll come back. And this time I'll make sure to get his autograph... I can't believe he was almost Guild Master!" The desire to the drunk had grown so much in the riolu, that she turned down an offer to go exploring, in fear that she would miss Daté's return. Instead, she chose to take Vigz on, so that he, Lilith and Flightly could go out as their own unit. Without Ago as a guide, however, they were delegated to simply touring the countryside for the dozen or so ferals still roaming outside of dungeons.

Maybe Lugum treated that incident in Shellder Town as her 'first' exploration, but Ago couldn't help but be pissed that Daté was holding her back. "The bastard said two months, Lu. A week has passed by, and I know that exploring- or whatever the fuck he is really doing- isn't the most punctual thing... but don't you think that maybe... you know?"

The small matt she rested on let out a small _whoosh_ of air as she shot up. "D-don't say that," Lugum growled. "I... I feel that he is important to me. Daté will come back, and he can explain why!"

He wanted to berate her for being so overly attached to the liar... but Ago couldn't deny that he felt the same way. Maybe curiosity caused these feelings, but Daté's strange expedition occasionally rang out to him, taking over his thoughts during the night. Lugum obsessed during the day, and he in the nighttime; and both of them most likely desired to be with him for no reason at all. "Lu... isn't your gift from Floret coming today?"

"Y-yeah! Wow, I absolutely can't wait... I can't..." she sighed and dropped down.

"Lu? You okay?" Ago wondered, walking over to the riolu.

She nodded. "I'm just so bored. I need something to do... the last time I felt this much pressure in my chest was when I walked up to guild that day I got hit by the grate. It's starting to actually _hurt_, Ago. I need Daté to return so I can start exploring again. Or... something needs to happen."

A pressure had been building itself up in Ago as well. Yet his rippled through his back, reminding him guiltily of his ineptness in combat. Spikes and Ago tried desperately, searching every corner of the guild libraries. Finally, over the days where nothing came up, Ago finally began to realize that he would be stuck hiding in guardhouses and using ferals to do his dirty-work for the rest of his life. "I know, Lu, I know," he said.

Suddenly, a hollow pecking noise started drilling into the trap-door like a woodpecker. "My gift!" Lugum yelled gleefully. At least one of the two bounced back quick. Ago smiled as the riolu ran up to open the door.

"Mail for Lugum of Team Wayfarers!" The pelliper cried out as the door flung open, and Lugum disappeared out of the door. "My utmost apologies, but the note that came with your parcel fell away!" Ago could hear outside the cave.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll just go out and ask him later," Lugum responded cheerfully. "I'm glad you were able to find the door- I don't get a lot of mail." The pelliper laughed, and the small-talk continued for a few more moments before the riolu dropped back in, carrying a tube and a stick wrapped up in clean linen usually found in bandages. A large bulge rested at the bottom. Smiling, she quickly unwrapped the stick first.

Her face became frozen in mortified recognition as a long, brownish-red spear and a belt came out from the removed linen. "Wow, Lu, check that out," Ago said, impressed.

The spear appeared to be finely decorated and crafted, yet meant for someone taller than Lugum. Small parts of the weapon seemed like areas where one could twist segments of it about, bespeaking of its ingenuity. The belt seemed to be a way to hold it straight up and along one's side, yet there was another hook near the spearhead. The receiver of the gift did not seem so impressed as truly terrified. The spearhead was made of a steel that Ago had no doubt shined in the sun. "What's up? Lugum, Floret won't like that you're freaking out just because he sent you a weapon."

Trembling, she dropped the belt and spear and moved on to the tube. Popping the lid to the wooden object, a paw traveled inside, grabbing onto something. A beautiful green banner with gold patterns, rolled up very neatly, came out of the tube. Now Ago understood what it was: a standard that doubled as a weapon. Lugum's eyes glazed over, becoming indifferent and senseless as she stared at the vivid green and gold. "No, no... Ago..."

Ago began to get very worried as she unraveled the flag. "Lu, don't fucking roll it out if you're scared of it! You're worrying the living shit out of me!" She didn't heed his words, and finally got to the decoration

Lugum screamed and jumped away from the flag, flailing outward as she stumbled back into a nearby lamp- currently aflame and giving light to the cave. After catching it and putting it back onto its nightstand, Ago's claws shot up and covered his ears- the dire, sad scream made his heart stop. Finally, the cry turned into sobs. The golden pattern transformed into a depiction of what Ago guessed to be a lucario's head, snarling and ready to charge forward.

The riolu clenched her eyes shut and dropped down into a ball. "Nope, Lu, we're not doing that," Ago muttered, scared of what the standard meant. Did Floret intend for her to know? "Fuck that pelliper for dropping the note," he cursed angrily. All he could guess was that it came from the riolu's home town. Without any context behind what just transpired, Ago decided the best thing for him to do was help his friend. "Okay, don't cry," Ago told her. "Let's go and put you back to bed, okay? Maybe you only need to sleep it off."

"D-don't make me go to sleep," Lugum whispered, not leaving her defensive ball. "I'll start remembering more things. I m-might bite my tongue like before." Ago had to bite his own tongue to prevent himself from telling her the truth about that terribly night. "My... my arms hurt."

"Why?" Ago asked.

But the riolu's glazed look came back, but a tiny amount of shame broke through it. Ago could tell that she had scared herself to the point of complete exhaustion. "F-father. I want my father..." the teary-eyed riolu drifted off into sleep. Ago hoped that the no bad dreams came to her. Once again... useless. Ago neared his breaking point; it drove him to the brink of insanity to be this powerless.

A knock on the trap-door startled Ago so badly he cried out. The rhythmic beat stopped with Ago's surprised shout, and the pikachu rushed to answer the door. Did the pelliper retrieve the note? "Coming!" He shouted.

Throwing himself outside of the cave, he threw his arm over his eyes in order to block out the bright sunlight. "Did you get the note?" Ago desperately asked, unable to see who he was speaking to. "We sort of need... oh?"

A ninetales and a gothorita greeted his returning sight instead of the pelliper. The prideful, groomed ninetales stood tall, a gentle smile on his face, melting Ago's concern for Lugum immediately. His eyes, however, looked heavy and sad, "Oh... no messages," he said. A voice dripping with soft guilty, which made Ago wonder if he had somehow misjudged him. "Only an eager gothorita... and her... brother. Her brother Roposo."

Ago resisted holding his claw out. "Nice to meet you, Roposo. What brings you to, uh, Sharpedo Bluff? Tourism?"

Roposo laughed yet his daughter only looked away to the ocean. It was bad practice, but Ago couldn't help but assume that adoption had made her indifferent towards this ninetales. What other explanation was there for that subdued hate? "No, no! My younger sister wished to explore, so we came from... Rubata Village... so that we may find her a guild," he explained. "We heard about the issue in Shellder Town, and I have to say it was effective advertisement!"

There seemed to be something off about the Roposo, but his kindness really got through to the nervous pikachu. "Ha," he chuckled, "I guess so. What's her name?"

Roposo's eyes widened. "Oh, sister, how rude of us! Introduce yourself, please."

The gothorita looked straight at the pikachu. "Do you have a father?" What kind of introduction was that? Ago crossed his arms, confused.

"_So silly!" _Roposo cried out. "Her name is Anatasa- _ack._" The ninetales fell into a coughing fit, while Anatasa continued to look at him. Knots arose in his stomach as the fit reminded him of Lugum's seared throat.

"Pardon him," Anatasa whispered, "he is becoming very, very frail. All these sicknesses are slowly catching up to him... they're right behind him, now-"

"_E-enough sister, please_!" Roposo demanded, his soothing voice wavering uncontrollably. He bent his head down shamefully and caught his breath. "I am so, so sorry. please pardon me- we have a lot of friction in our relationship... may we get a tour of Treasure Town, to see if she wants to start her career here? We'll pay you, if you so want."

With nothing else to do, Ago concluded that there was no harm in it. Introducing someone to Treasure Town might help him finally shake off either his feelings of uselessness or at the very least make him feel like a real resident of the town. "Sure, why not? I'll do it- free of charge." Roposo tried to put on the gentle smile, but could only manage a straight face and a nod.

* * *

"_Whoa hee hee!" _Vigz cried out in laughter. "What a stink! Vigz must tell himself that he's been naughty, or else he'd get this same stink! And it's close, it's _owner is close by!_" The sneasel ripped the dismembered claw out of Lilith's grasp. The limber furret looked back to Flightly, a grin growing on her face. Flightly knew that she only didn't care so much for the riolu's safety nearly as much as the chance to kill an unsuspecting pokémon. Vigz seemed just as excited... why was Lugum so determined to take in all these violent pokémon?

Lilith threw down her pink scarf, wrapping the end of it about her leg. "So, Flightly? Are we on a field trip, or are we trying to kill this dream-eater fellow?" It took Flightly far too long to shake off Ago and Lugum, but he finally had the opportunity now to finish what Daté couldn't two months ago. He nodded, fully willing to drive these two forward.

With a flick of his arm, Vigz drew his small deck from out of his bag. "Let's go Lilith, let's _go go go!" _The furret breathed out, pleased. "We're in the perfect place... we wait for the drowsy-"

"Drowsy?" Flightly asked.

Another amused laugh. "It's a drowsy claw, Flightly. _Whoa hee hee! _We wait for him to walk by, and then we c-catch him, and take him to the other alley... _and kill him! Whoa hee hee! This sure beats babysitting!"_

_"And farming quickweed_," Lilith squealed.

Flightly sighed, steeling himself. Slowly, they slowly sneaked up to the end of the alleyway. The short street of residences had very little visitors in the morning, other than the occasional gang of playing children. But now, even Flightly could smell the stench Vigorish spoke of. It was terrible; Flightly could hardly keep from gagging.

The slow, blood-chilling noise of Lilith drawing her sword sent a shiver down the pidgeotto's spine. This was it. This would prove that he loved Lugum, right? The moment the damned dream-eater came into view, Vigorish and Lilith flashed out, tackling the drowsy and sending him into the alley way on the opposite side of the street. He hardly had time to cry out.

What came next terrified the bird. Being a feral usually prepared him for purely instinctual acts, but the assault these two performed was enough to make him look away. Throwing those sharp cards point blank... stabbing down on a target that could not dodge anymore... hopefully it truly was the dream-eater. Over and over again. He felt like retching and even more like having a serious discussion about keeping these two on the team.

"A pointed stump, a pointed stump," Vigz cried, holding up a part of the bloodied and torn drowsy. "It was growing back, someone has naughty arts! _Naughty, and I caught him for you! Haha!_ The same sneasel who took care of children for the Wigglytuff Guild, celebrating his victory._ "_Does it make you uncomfortable?" He shouted across the alleyway.

Flightly shot across and covered Vigorish's mouth, trying to ignore the worsened smell. "N-no, quit yelling you fool. We can't let anyone know. We can't prove that he really did anything to Lugum- especially not after you mutilated him- Lilith, quit it! Quit acting like an Arceus-damned animal!"

The furret smiled and stopped dabbing her scarf in the drowsy's wounds. She wanted to give an explanation, but could not when an arm grabbed her. "W-what?" She asked the drowsy clutching her arm.

The dream-eater stared at Flightly, his burst of strength already fading. Something probed within the bird's mind, but he did not care- this drowsy was dead, "Hope you enjoy what you see, scum." He felt like puking. "Let us take our leave of this mess... speak of it with no one." Nodding, the two murderers made their way out of the alleyway.

**Beginning of Part Two**


	29. Bleeds

"And this is... uh... the Kecleon Brothers' store! Right." Roposo gave him an odd look, and Ago knew that he wasn't doing a very good job as a tour-guide. But now that he had a few more moments to inspect the flowery, colorful shop, it definitely appeared to be the shop. "This is the main sponsor of the guilds in Treasure Town. Our team is fairly new, so we haven't really picked our sponsor... but this is most likely it." He was doing a fairly good job, right? At the very least, Roposo chuckled his way out of another coughing fit.

So far, Ago had taken them to the Dojo, the Ravenous Mightyena, and other places that were relevant to his own life nowadays. He quickly rushed through the part about their suspension, and tried the best he could to work around their team's lack of experience with dungeons. What in the world would anyone want with their recently started guild? "If you don't mind me asking," Ago started cautiously, "how did you find out about us? We're not exactly superstars."

Roposo grinned and walked towards the front stall. A small bell waited to be rung, the only way to call the brothers back to "Wow, Anatasa, look at this place!" Ago gaped, incredulous that he had been so obviously ignored. "So, Ago, does the Team Leader decide- or will decide- what you buy?"

That was a good question. "Well, I would think that Flightly knows more about provisions, and Lugum would have him do it."

"Ah. Are you fairly independent from your Team Leader? Does she go on the missions with you, or simply operates the guild from your home?" Roposo asked indifferently, too busy inspecting the bell to be interested. "I was sort of hoping to find out where she is- not that you're doing a bad job!" He laughed. "I really wanted to meet her."

Ago crossed his arms, feeling . "Well, right now... she's-"

"Look!" Anatasa cried out, pointing, "we need to move for those those marill." Roposo shot her an angry look, and then saw that there actually were two marill, bouncing and excited, waiting to ring the bell. They grinned and waved at the ninetales. Something about the children made the ninetales very uncomfortable.

"Hello mister!" A gleeful marill shouted out, waving at the ninetales. "Can you please ring the bell for us? We're too short... but I promise we won't cause him trouble." The little sister of the marill giggled, hiding shyly behind her brother. "You can go and ask our dad if you don't believe us!" Ago couldn't help but find the little pair endearing.

Roposo bent his head down and coughed. "Sure... sure... I can do that." Gripping on to the rope of the hanging bell, he tugged softly. A soft bell rung out, and in an instant a green kecleon was staring down at the two marill. He looked fairly exhausted and stressed, but was determined to put on a grin the moment he saw the two. All Ago could guess is that things were not looking up for his business.

Immediately, he went away, shouting out greetings to those outside of the stall. "Hello, you two! I'm guessing you want the usual?"

"Yes, mister! Our lunch, two apples!" The sister cheered, all too excited for some apples. Ago thought that they needed a much-warranted visit to the Ravenous Mightyena.

Too tired to be fully coordinated, the groggy kecleon accidentally knocked one of the apples away from his stall. "Damn- I mean, whoops!" He cried out, trying to catch the apple. Instead, it rolled away and to Ago. Smiling, he quickly picked it up and held it out. The two marill looked absolutely devastated about the entire situation.

He grinned and walked up to the two, returning their fallen apple, pressing it slowly into his small paws so he didn't drop it. "Hey, five-second rule, right?"

The brother took the apple, a beaming smile on his face. "_**Help!"**_

Ago stared at the small marill, his blue face slowly turning into horror. The pikachu's head pounded painfully. "The fuck? What... what are you talking about?"

"**_Help my sister and me! Why are you taking us out here?"_ **The marill started to tear up and run away, into a mountain that sprung up out of the stall. A yellow demon followed them, one claw ready to tear them apart. The other... holding a spine, swinging it about like a flail. Not exactly what he expected for simple returning an apple.

"Ago? Ago! This drowsy needs our assistance!" The kecleon yelled into his ear, causing his head to flare with unrelenting pain. Whatever happened was over now, and it left a gruesome image in front of him. Roposo and Anatasa backed near the stall as the kecleon rushed towards a collapsed drowsy, cut apart and stabbed. "Help me use these bandages!" No wonder the two marill fled the scene; it was a particularly nightmarish image.

His head still ached badly, but Ago couldn't just let the drowsy go without much-needed attention. Working with the store-keeper, the two quickly worked at stopping the bleeding. "We need to focus on the worst wounds," the kecleon ordered.

"They're all the fucking 'worst wounds'!" Ago shouted, stressed out. Everything looked so bad, he didn't know where to start helping.

Suddenly, there was no need to. The cuts started to noisily mend by themselves. Ago felt like somebody had thrown him into fast-forward while he spectated the recovery of this drowsy's wounds. The pokémon sighed, slowly beginning to move again. "W-wow," the kecleon gasped, "you have to be a powerful psychic medic to heal yourself like this!"

Ago must be caught in a bad dream. Everything was so damned off. The ninetales and his sister, the marill's pleas, this drowsy... he felt like everything in Treasure Town wanted to spook the hell out of them. But the moment he heard the words 'power psychic medic' he wanted to forget all of his suspicions. He even abandoned any attempt to figure out why he limped all the way over here just to heal himself. When the drowsy finally rose, only pinkish scars marking his wounds, Ago was fully ready to pin his hopes on him.

"Yes, yes, I do apologize for startling you customers," the drowsy groaned.

"Y-you better be!" The kecleon stammered, his eyes wide, "I w-was about to up and run, too!"

"I was mugged by lowly bandits in a calm residential area. I am a traveling healer, you see. The famous medic Drowsy. A pleasure to meet you all." He bowed low, a humble look on his face, and stuffed his left arm into one of the bandages they managed to put on him. It didn't look very pleasant, but Ago assumed that the medic knew best. A disgusting smell came from his wounds, and Ago saw that the situation was probably not giving Roposo and Anatasa the best impression. In fact, Roposo now stared at Drowsy, eyes wide with fear.

But this was it. A psychic medic- a famous one at that- now stood in front of him after weeks of searching and hopelessness. "R-Roposo, I must end the tour. There are some personal things I must attend to."

Roposo shook his head defiantly. "You can't just cut things off like that!" He snarled.

Drowsy frowned and looked down shamefully. "Ah, I must have ruined your tour. Forgive me." On the contrary, the medic had truly made his day. "Is there anything I can do to make up for this grievance?" The kecleon brother scowled, probably wondering where his payment was. It was all so easy... to finally find some hope after all this time. Roposo stormed off, furious. A little bad rep was worth it.

He jumped on the offer without hesitation. "Are you really a medic? A famous one?"

"Yes, pikachu. Do you have someone you would like me to see?"

"M-me! You see, my back has rendered me disabled. I was wondering if... if you could..."

Drowsy nodded. "Of course, my child. Come with me back to my home. I'll fix... everything."


	30. Strikes

They probably all thought that Daté was late, or that the grovyle ran off, or that he lied and stole away with something valuable. Or maybe they considered him too fickle for guild leadership, and the shame forced him to hide away in some Arceus-forsaken crevice. But none of it held a single ounce of truth. Daté had not fled; he didn't lie about how long this would take; only the fact that he was slowly dying of thirst and paralyzed, burnt legs that kept him from returning to Treasure Town.

What had gone on inside the dungeon? The good news was that Daté retrieved what he sought after. In a finely decorated satchel, nice and rested against the rocky wall, laid a small bit of hope for all pokémon. The bad news was that traversing the room with the lava pit nearly costed him everything when an unexpected attack by a slugma sent his legs skittering against the lava.

The destructive heat enervated all of his strength and scorched away all control of his legs. Only by a sheer burst of adrenaline- and dropping his equipment in order to lighten his load- did he manage to continue onward, arm by arm, to the other side. For weeks he planned the route, but the room shifted dramatically, and it tripped him up. He should have left, but he became impatient. The sense that he could almost _smell_ the ancient relic, driving him to risk everything on a single attempt... it was obvious now that the room stood as the relic's protector. It baited him into danger, and took his life while Daté took the time gear.

He crawled into the room, obtained what he wanted, and used his backup escape orb. Without food or water, however, his wounds could not heal. Meaning that he was unable to find food and water. A vicious, vicious cycle. The only solace was that dehydration would kill him or render him unconscious before the catastrophic consequences of his actions destroyed the volcano.

All that work... to die a pathetically crippled weakling. He wanted to sob now, after all of the years of keeping strong, but his dry eyes fought on for honor even when he had given up. They twitched and twitched again, and he cursed himself in between the dry-heaves, which were the closest thing to a sob he could manage. All of the effort weakened his last reserves of strength, until that too floated away. Then, after two days of suffering, Daté found himself drifting away, his vision blackening. With a dizzy cringe, he threw himself over the decorative, red bag, hiding it from view. It was all he could do now as he died.

Would his friend find him one day, uncover the bag, and remember? Collect all the pieces without him? Create a world this green and beautiful for everyone, forever? Yes... now was the time to dream about that dear friend roaming through green meadows, determined to succeed in Daté's quest. As always, it became the grovyle's last resort, his last hiding-place from the harsh future.

Suddenly, a tall figure came from around the bend of the volcano, keeping close to the edge of the grey mountain. A billowing green flag sprouting from the pokémon's back was all the color Daté saw. Everything else was too out of focus. He did, however, finally make out a shape. "Lu... Lugum," the grovyle rasped, the surprise and confusion driving his dry tongue. "Why?" Was this his mind's death throes? To put his past in front of him?

The figure towered over him wordlessly. Daté winced as a bag dropped down in front of his face. "I am not she," a calm, heavy voice told him. It mingled with the blood pounding in his head; it sounded like nothing more than echoes. Above all, it was eerily familiar. "My, my, Daté. How the mighty have fallen." It really wasn't Lugum, because this pokémon was a lucario. With gentle paws, he propped Daté back up to a sitting position and knelt down. "This red bag. I presume it holds the star of your effort over these last two months." This lucario knew something about his mission. Daté had to get up, or more than his life would be lost!

Daté's head pounded with desperation as the lacing about the red satchel became undone. Before he could object, a canteen struck his mouth. Sweet, sweet water sloshed about inside of its leather stomach. Every drop was so inviting... Daté's determination melted away as if he had been given a pacifier. "Do you appreciate my method? I have bottle-fed children before, and I am afraid it brings forth the caring parent in me."

His temper flared when the lucario called him a child, but he could only drink the cool water, gulp by gulp. "You are a child, or at the very least a childish pokémon. Misled by childish kin, still playing make-believe behind the house with wooden swords. A little treecko, knocking wood against the wall of his dingy stone house, naming it 'training' when it is really vandalism. To think I almost guided you towards greater things."

A small segment of his wits and strength regained, Daté looked up at the lucario. Of course... how could he not remember, even when insanely parched and near death? "But you did, Semideum." Daté coughed, water leaking down his mouth as he tried to continue speaking. Semideum sighed and shoved the canteen farther into the grovyle's mouth.

"Would you look at this?" he asked indifferently, "would you look at the 'right thing' according to you? Burnt, devastated, _wasted._.. and for what?" He asked. "For a... T_ime-Gear_?" Daté's heart stopped as he saw the ornate cog reflect the sun into his eyes. Beautifully natural... with an incandescent blue chasis, indomitable green petals, and incredible core that can hypnotize the holder with the smallest glance.

The water, not natural in the least, worked too fast. Tears welled up in Daté's eyes, even as he gritted his teeth. Maybe he was only a child. "G-give it back. Damn you! Semideum... don't do this!" The lucario kept a straight-face as the Time Gear gave his fur a greenish tint. He bent his arm down, ready to toss it- it would be lost forever. "Only t-two more to collect, can't you see? It's possible!" He sobbed. "Let it go! Let it go!"

When the lucario actually shoved it into the grovyle's arms, it came as complete shock. Daté, though passionate about its retrieval, had considered his destiny tarnished the moment the lucario touched it. The wrenching hopelessness caused his heart to rise into his chest, and feeling the Time Gear's warmth was only like adding salt on a wound. "R-really?" He whispered. "Just like that?"

"Stupid gears. Their foolish hope took you away from me," Semideum sighed. "I followed you through your own portal, Daté, which has given me free-reign over this period before my master can truly respond. Thus... I will let you have this Time Gear." Daté immediately became suspicious and confused. Why would he let him get a step closer to destroying the lucario's master? "But there is one condition you must fulfill."

"What's... what's that?"

He smiled bleakly; Semideum seemed almost excited to say his condition. "Save Lugum."

The grovyle wondered if what he drank was water at all; he didn't remember when his legs started working again, but they were. And he shot up quickly, causing his head to pound. He couldn't even begin to grasp what Lugum meant to the lucario. "Bullshit, Semideum! It is a good five-hour sprint from Treasure Town to here. There's n-no way you can know if she's in trouble!"

The reaction appeared to be what Semideum wanted. "Our auras are attuned, Daté. Lugum and I exist in the same auratic realm, for we have lived in the same clan. Clan of Flowing Steel. I desire true companionship, from one who understands me. Also... I feel that the one attempting to kill her does not deserve The Gift."

Daté kept his head down, and slowly slipped the Time Gear into his special satchel. He felt full and content- and ready to fight back against these lies. "Lugum doesn't know you, Semideum. Stop feeding me... bullshit!" Roaring, Daté flew into a rash surprise attack, trying to beat down the lucario. With a disdainful scoff, he drove a leg into the Daté's stomach, faster than lightning. A following hammer kick knocked the wits out of the stunned grovyle, sending him into the ground. "She's an innocent riolu. Never would she buy into such a sick game as this!"

"Is someone jealous that she is competing for The Gift? The pokémon trying to take her life, a drowsy, heads to Mount Steel. I may induce your presence in this game, so that you may promptly kill him. Join me, Daté. Like old times."

"_Fuck... you!" _

This put a sad look on Semideum's face. "Save her. Or else I _will_ find you again. And do the tasks my master deemed worthy for me." The foot pinning the grovyle down slowly started to lift. In a second, the lucario was gone.

Struggling to his feet, Daté went over to the bag Semideum left him. Inside was more water, and a blank map with only two points: Ifritan Volcano and Mount Steel. Lugum... the little riolu whose need for his help gave Daté the strength he needed to undertake this trial alone. And that drowsy, whom he had maimed, had far darker motives than the grovyle originally thought.

Regardless of what he thought, he had no other choice but to save the riolu. Steeling himself, he started the long journey back towards Treasure Town.

* * *

Lugum knew that she had to answer the knocking on the door, but she didn't want to. She wanted to lie down forever after seeing that banner. For years the memories only fueled dark nightmares... but now some of them became clear. The village, her father, the Clan of Flowing Steel. The home she for some reason had to leave. She was so scared, to think about why she now lived in this bluff, with new friends.

But she decided that it would be okay, and slowly started to get up again. There were many pokémon, her teammates, about to help her now. The nightmares no longer stalked her alone through the night. "Remembering will hurt," she told herself as she stumbled towards the door, "but I have Ago and the others now, right? Stop being such a baby, Lugum!"

To prove her point, Flightly was the one knocking, his demeanor subdued and tight as usual. But something was off; had Flightly been tearing up about something? His eyes looked everywhere but at the riolu. "Hey, Flightly!" Lugum said as cheerfully as she could, "why the long face? Where are the others?"

"At the guild," Flightly whispered. He looked so guilty, and it made Lugum uncomfortable.

"Have you seen Ago? I heard him leave hours ago..."

Flight only shook his head sadly.

"Did he get lost somewhere? Oh no! We've got to go find him!" Lugum cried out.

When Flightly shook his head again and embraced the riolu, Lugum wished she had never got up.


	31. Enrages

**Long chapter. Whoops. Anyway, if you're wondering why the chapter names are so weird, it is because I... I forgot to put in the preface to them. I'll place them at the beginning of part 1 (chapter 1) and chapter 2 (chapter 28) but here they are:**

**Part one: Those of the storm are...**

**Part two: The danger...**

**Basically, just add the chapter name to the end of this. Make sense? No? Sorry.**

* * *

"What?" Lugum snapped, confused. "You really brought me all the way down here to tell me Ago has a _fever_?" After seeing Flightly so upset, she really thought that something much worse was going on with the pikachu. Flightly remained silent and ashamed the entire walk over to the Wigglytuff Guild. When she tried to ask him questions while making their way to the guild, he refused to even acknowledge that she spoke. "Flightly... are you all trying to prank me? Why am I down here?"

Chatot frowned, perplexed at the riolu's reaction. He too had that same stupid look on his face. "Lugum... you should be more caring for your teammates." She missed the usual fervor that Chatot berated her with. "A fever left unchecked can permanently harm a pokémon's constitution..." Lugum didn't need to know the rest; Chatot was going to, once again, make another excuse for why she couldn't go into Asabi's office. "Another reason for you to not disturb him."

The first basement level of the guild practically glowed with a warm, yellow hue, and the mission-boards always made the riolu's chest bubble with excitement. Lugum felt bad for not visiting it very much, other than for the occasional check-ups with the Guild Master.

Chatot conducted these check-ups, however, and Lugum's participation couldn't be called anything more than minimal. Sometimes, she didn't even go beyond the gate. On this floor, a pleasing silence filled every nook and cranny. A cloying fragrance came from a cauldron a croagunk busily toiled over, which smelt like something between flowers and burnt hair. It relaxed Lugum to know that things were business as usual, that Ago's sickness wasn't severe enough to interrupt things.

The Wigglytuff Guild hadn't changed their ways since its founding. Somehow, the busiest guild in Treasure Town still managed to keep all of their contracts on those two boards. Dozens of pokémon went up and down the yellow stairs every day, and saw the same old unrefined walls- like the rocky sides of a cave. Some of them called it home. As a whole, the room reminded her a lot of Sharpedo Bluff: a hollow sculpture turned into a living space. Lugum wondered if they were made by the same pokémon.

Sitting silently in front of Asabi's office wasn't getting her anywhere, so Lugum decided to try and make some small talk. "Hey, Flightly, doesn't this look a lot like- _oh no,_ you've got to be kidding me! Where does the sun thinks its going?!" Outside the windows, dark clouds covered the bright afternoon sun.

A small pattering on the windows began. Lugum couldn't believe her terrible luck. In a few seconds, it was replaced with the constant pounding of a storm. "Flightly, you're such a jerk! Now we have to stay here or else we'll all get soggy and sick. Are you happy? Well?"

The pidgeotto looked down. "I am sorry... Lugum."

"For Arceus's sake, Flightly, quit tearing up! You're really starting to be a real softy," Lugum lamented, crossing her arms disapprovingly.

A sigh came from her Commanding Officer. "Maybe you should rest," he proposed hastily. "Downstairs is perfect! There are many exploration teams put out of work temporarily by the issue with the bandit army... maybe you could introduce yourself to your fellow explorers you have neglected for the past two months." He bowed down quickly afterwards, as if he had struck her. "I apologize, that comment was very insensitive."

Lugum shrugged nervously. She liked it better when the Commanding Officer yelled at her. Everything seemed so off, and this made . Nonetheless, the idea of meeting some of her follow guild-members both excited and unnerved her. The majority of them she had never met, nor knew anything about.

On the other side of that laid Sonder, the sentry who scared her away every time she stepped on the grate before, was probably down there. "Maybe... I'll wait outside the-"

"You will go and socialize, Lugum, and avoid this floor until I grant you permission," Chatot demanded. "For my sanity's sake... can your team _adhere_ to the imperatives of your higher officer at least once?!"

"H-hey! Where'd that come from?" Lugum asked, appalled.

Flightly took in a deep breath. "Lugum, it is best for you to listen," he mumbled. "Chatot, may I... may I go down with her?"

The Commanding Officer glared at Flightly, and Lugum swore that she saw anger flash through his tired eyes. "Fine. But things are not over between us," he hissed. Why was her team in trouble again? He should have been more attentive to Chatot's subdued rage, but Flightly only threw himself into a sloppy bow that looked more like he tripped.

Trying to ignore the uneasiness growing in the back of her mind, she made her ways to the narrow yellow stairs. It wouldn't be bad; she would force herself to make a great first impression. All the deep breathing and clenching of her paws didn't help her relax- every step downwards put her own edge. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

It nearly did when a wing went over her shoulder, startling the wits out of her. "_Ah!_" She yelped, throwing herself against the wall. Flightly's wing almost got pinned between her back and the wall, but he pulled it away just in time. "_What is wrong with you?"_ Lugum screamed, her nerves officially frayed. Having to formally meet other teams was hard.

But Flightly had started to move in on her, cry sporadically, and put her team at odds with Chatot. Now he started to feel her up? That made things impossible for the riolu to handle.

He winced and tucked his wing back in. "Lugum, I am o-only worried-"

"You're freaking me out!" Lugum shouted, poking him in the chest. "You drag me down here after a really bad day, give me bad news, and now you're trying to hug me and wrap your wing around me like I need _counseling_ because Ago had to go to the doctor?" Lugum was so furious, she realized, because there was an itch deep in her mind that... that she was being lied to. "Like, bug off you perverted pidgeotto!"

"L-lugum... you may want to watch what you say..." he rustled his feathers nervously.

"_Is that a threat?"_ Lugum cried out, appalled. "I'm Team Leader. Tell me what's really wrong with Ago, or I'll throw you right out-" They had gone too far down the stairs... many guild members stared at them. "_Eep!" _Lugum covered her mouth and ducked behind the pidgeotto, closing her eyes.

There she went, mucking up the only impression she would ever get. They probably already heard all about Lugum's cowardly attempts from Sonder, and this only confirmed the rumors in their eyes.

A slow clap sounded out from the small crowd. Lugum peeked out from behind Flightly's back to see who was doing it. But she already knew: Sonder the loudred clapped his hands together, a smug smile on his face. "And here it is, folks: the Team Leader Lugum herself!"

He was mocking her in front of all these pokémon, and they most likely agreed! However Lugum angered Arceus, she begged that the great being could find it in his heart to pardon it. She covered her ears and waited for the eventual harassment.

None came. Instead, a high, peppy voice berated the loudred. "Oh my gosh!" It cried out. "You are utterly _repulsive,_ Sonder! That isn't funny at all!" The guild pokémon didn't hate her! Her head snapped up. Of course they didn't; she was in the same guild as them. She uncovered her eyes slowly and stood back up.

A sunflora positively shined. Shining so brightly during a storm in a dim guild should have been impossible. "Oh," the sunflora cooed, "you're so upset because your teammate's hurt! You're so timid... I wish I was as timid as you, Lugum- oh my gosh it's so cute! Wow I'm so bummed out I didn't know all of this before..."

Lugum almost wondered if they could go back to staring at her. Words came and went, none of them leaving Lugum's mouth. "R-really?" She finally asked, too flattered to think of a real response. "Thank you."

Maybe Flightly thought that she was cute too. Perhaps he wanted an excuse to hug her. That would explain a lot of things, such as why he looked so sad. And his attempts at public displays of affection angered Chatot! It all made sense now, and Lugum felt guilty that she accused Flightly of lying to her.

"Don't worry about it," the sunflora giggled. "I'm Flora, part of the resident guilds staff- specifically, Chatot's assistant. The staff acts sort of like Asabi: explorers who do a bit extra on the side!" Lugum felt awkward, but didn't want to reply with an audience standing behind her. "Huh? Hey... hey!" Flora whirled around, looking at the dozen or so guild-mates. "Want to gawk at other pokémon? Fine then. Everyone front and center!"

Sonder chuckled. "No way in hell. We don't have to listen to you. Chatot's not here to back your tattling ass up, right?" The other explorers were not interested in neither rejecting nor defending Flora, and quietly got into order. Only Sonder stood against the gleeful sunflora. It looked like this stare-down happened a lot.

The gleam in Flora's eyes startled Lugum, because it was one she recognized well. With slow, quiet steps, she turned to face the loudred. "Hee... _heehee._ _Ho! Hahahaha heehee hee-ee-e..._"

Lugum didn't know what influenced her opinions, but the zigzagoon that sifted through the crowd and to Sonder's side looked terribly _simple._ Not stupid... but someone who preferred not to think or do much. "Yup, Sonder, you've gone and done it now... yup yup. Better apologize and get in line."

The loudred shot off another smug smile. If Lugum wasn't so 'cutely timid', she would punch that smile off of his face without hesitation. "Relax, Doof," he laughed, "she won't do it front of-"

"**_Ignoramu-uu-ss!" _**Flora screamed. As Lugu, fell back against the stairs, horrified, she finally recalled where this act came from. Chatot had the same exact reaction to her adventures in Shellder Town. She wondered if it was an issue of genetics, or a kind of strange management method. "_Oh, you always ignore me like I'm chopped liver and I'm so tired of it. I'll cut you down here and now,_ **aiyee!****"**

How long could she go on for? Eventually, various pokémon started hissing at Sonder, telling him to back down. After about half a minute of non-stop screaming and begging, Sonder finally, thankfully, backed down. "Fine, fine, quit your crying," Sonder mumbled. He slowly walked into line, in front of Doof behind the other teams.

Flora's usual shine came back, as if her victory was almost enough to get the sun outside to start shining again. "Fantastic, now you can meet everyone. We organize by row. Team Leaders in front, their members in back. The member directly behind you is your first choice for replacement in the case that you resign or... er... yeah. I'm Team Leader of the _mandatory_ staff team, Team Determined. It's _mandatory_ because Sonder is a part of it. Anyway... Roll call!"

The team farthest to Lugum's left stood attention. "Team AWD!" A weavile shouted. She sidled over, giving way to her members, an arbok and a drapion. "Team Leader Weavile! First member Arbok! Second member Drapion!" Of course- it stood for AWD! Lugum felt very smart when she figured it out. "Our motto: _the only thing we can do better than increasing the crime rate... is lowering the crime rate!" _With that odd mission statement, Weavile fell back into line.

And now, a trembling wurmple wiggled forward. A tall swellow loomed over him, way too far up in his row to be a simple accident. "T-t-t-team Tasty!"

"Where is their third member?" Flightly couldn't resist asking himself quietly. The stupid bird scared the wits out of Lugum; she covered her mouth, the name and the missing third member inspiring horrifying images of a carnivorous swellow.

The swellow laughed nervously. "Haha, no, no, don't feel bad for being worried! We have a member vacationing in his parent's village, We get this all the time... hurry up, Sap!"

"S-sap Team Leader- I mean, Team Leader Sap! First member Nimrod! Team m-motto: _the early bird gets the worm..."_

Lugum couldn't help yelping out, fearing for the poor wurmple. Why did Wigglytuff accept this team? It seemed like an elaborate plot for the swellow to eat dinner. Nimrod closed his eyes and sighed.

Hopefully, the next team wouldn't be so creepy. Lugum actually found the slowpoke and slakoroth lying down in line to be very silent. "Uh," Flora started, "our next team is Team Slacker. Team Leader Lagging, first member Late. Team motto:" Flora waited a moment, letting the pause hang in the air. "_We'll give you a motto later!" _Lugum didn't really know what to expect. The final team in the formation... It was Lilith and Vigorish from her own team! Lilith stood in front of the sneasel, which Lugum had to admit was probably a good idea. But seeing them made Lugum grit her teeth; they both had that dammed guilty look on their face.

Flora gave the riolu a confident smile. "Lugum... did you want to go down there and give the introduction yourself? Come on, both of you, don't be shy!"

She didn't need to be asked twice. The invitation putting a bounce in her step, she hopped down and stood at the front. Team name. Members, including herself. And a motto. Not hard at all! Flightly attempted to lay on wing on her back, but a good glare got him to back up a proper amount. She steeled herself, and began. "Team Wayfarer! Team Leader Lugum! First member... first member... _urk!" _

Who? Who was first member- Ago or Flightly? Ago... saving him from drowning started all of these great events. No one backed her up more, and he was a truly fantastic friend. The ability to socialize... to lead.. to fight... it all took root in Ago's assistance. He was dealt a bad hand with his back, a challenge she couldn't imagine, and he still managed to stand up and cuss pokémon out- his own form of thunder.

While not a polar opposite, Flightly had a very different sense of language. Usually calm and reliable, and always very keen. She couldn't think of a judgment passed by him that didn't ring with some kind of truth. And... she felt very endeared to him. But the only reason was apparent: if Lugum died, the replacement acted not only as Team Leader, but as the face-checker too. Ago simply didn't have the assets for that.

"First member... Flightly." The pidgeotto winced and- as was the norm for the stormy afternoon- started to tear up. "Second member Ago. Third member Lilith. Fourth member Vigorish. Team motto-"

"_We want a romantic relationship with that weavile, whoa hee hee!" _Vigz yelled excitedly. Lugum twisted around, appalled.

Weavile stared daggers at the infatuated sneasel. "Flora... permission to slay Vigorish of Team Wayfarer?" Violently rejected, Vigz ducked behind the nearby slakoth.

"Love works in _mysterious _ways," Vigz chuckled awkwardly. "But I really don't think the easiest way to my heart is ripping through my stomach."

The sunflora bent down in thought. "Hmm. Permission... denied! How about Team Wayfarer chooses another motto instead?"

Lugum nodded. "hm... Team motto..." since she just made Ago second member, the best she could do was use him as inspiration for their motto. But most of his good quotes for Lugum included cuss words- something told her that teams avoided that kind of stuff. Yet, there laid a single thing she could use. It would be awkward, though, since he only muttered it in his sleep- and it would need to be reworded a little. She decided to go for it. For Ago.

"Team motto: _though the going hurts... the future is in our hands!" _It sounded so strong! Lugum clapped and smiled, very happy with the result. Even the other explorers looked impressed.

Flightly leaned in. "That is very profound, Lugum. How did you think of that?"

Even verbose Flightly liked it! "I can't take full credit. It's from something Ago says in his sleep often. I don't talk about it because it would probably make him uncomfortable. _Though the parting hurts... the rest is in your hands._ You never heard him say that?"

The response Lugum received was one of great concern. "Lugum... Ago never says anything in his sleep."

"No!" Lugum rebuked, angry. "Y-yesterday-"

"Lugum. No. It has never been said."

She wanted to protest, or at least figure out what was going on, but sudden crashing cut short the conversation. "_You're not allowed to intrude in our base!" _Chatot squawked, tumbling down after whoever just broke in. "_We have intruders! Intruders! Why the hell is Sonder not near the lookout area?!" _Not much was to be done, other than stay in their already-made formation and wait.

Team Razor came storming down the steps, all of them furious. They pushed Flora out of the way, and stood in front of the Wigglytuff Guild teams. Chatot soon followed, livid and furious. Spikes looked about frantically, until he finally caught sight of Lugum and had the focus to talk to her- he seemed blinded by rage. He bent down, teeth gritted and unable to stop his sobbing. "L-Lugum!" The sandslash cried out. "_Let us hunt for him! We'll kill the bastard! W-we won't stop until we tear off his head and put it in front of Ago!" _

Razor threw his blades up. It definitely freaked out every pokémon in the room, including one very confused and scared riolu. "_Is this your hunting party? Let us join you, please! Put our blades towards vengeance-" _

"_Shut up! Just shut up!" _Flightly roared, jumping on Razor, trying to cover his mouth. Lugum backed away- this behavior was unnatural, especially for a usually calm pidgeotto. "Why are you driven to this insanity? Ago has a fever, that is it," Flightly pleaded.

Laceration smacked away the pidgeotto. "Lugum, what the fuck is he going on about?"

"I-it's true," Lugum squeaked. "A bad fever- a little earlier than the storm, but a fever nonetheless. Flightly and Chatot told me so."

Spikes shook his head, his teeth chattering with anger. "Damn them both, then. They told you nothing? How he told me that he found a famous psychic doctor- a drowsy- before going over to this doctor's home? How he told me where it was so I could go there later? How I found... Arceus, _how I found Ago? And the ransom note? Nothing about Mount Stee_l-"

"_Eno-oo-ugh!" _Flightly commanded. He jumped onto Laceration, frenzied wings striking the zangoose's head. Before Lugum could stop it, Team Razor and Team Wayfarer were at each other's throats. Both sides knew not to kill, but they still swung closed claws and wings without reservation. But that didn't matter. What was _really_ wrong with Ago? Lugum's heart rose into her throat as she used the ensuing chaos to sneak towards the stairs.

The first basement level shone no longer. Up here, with only the noise of a bubbling cauldron, the storm's noises scared her. Whatever Ago's condition truly was... what situation truly laid in Asabi's office... could Lugum even handle it? As her paw reached towards the knob of the door, she hesitated.

"Do it or do it not," the croagunk mumbled from across the room. "I have seen your friend. You will not be happy."

Lugum pressed her paw on the doorknob. "I don't want to know if Ago's hurt, and that Flightly lied to me! But I can't just walk away..."

The croagunk laughed. "You cannot. Your eyes speak of that which will drive your life. It is an offer given to many strong pokémon of our time, yet those who deny it forget. You are so young. Did someone accept it for you?" Before Lugum could respond, he laughed the question off. "It matters not. My special concoction returned memories of parts of this dream."

"I'm having a hard time thinking that _this_ isn't a nightmare," Lugum admitted. "What are you even talking about? Accept what?"

"I do not know. You accepted something, and now shall this acceptance define your life. Be strong."

This nightmarish day frightened the poor riolu. It all started the moment she saw that stupid standard, resurfacing wounding memories. And now, after laying down the entire day, something had happened to Ago. But he needed her more than ever, in that case! Reinforcing her dedication to the pikachu, she turned the knob and threw the door open.

At first, everything seemed fine. Ago laid down on the cold medical bench, no outstanding injuries anywhere on his body. Maybe, after all of the turmoil, Ago was okay. Asabi worked over him, her posture rigid and focused. Ago turned to look at her, his eyes pained and surprised. "Lu... what are you doing in here?" He whispered.

But the wrongness of the situation revealed itself as Asabi twisted around. "Lugum!" She yelled. "You aren't allowed to be in here. Please leave."

She stepped closer. "W-why?"

"_Doctor's orders, Lugum. Please leave!" _She shouted. Lugum didn't mean to, but the yelling spooked her. When Asabi tried to herd her away, away from Ago, she snapped. Closing her eyes, she sent a paw flying into the chimecho trying to hound her out of the room. No one would separate her from a dear friend. No one The hit must have been hard, because it rendered Asabi unconscious.

Ago lifted his neck up, trying to get a better look at Lugum. "Lu, what the fuck?" He asked hoarsely, "did you just hit Asabi? What is wrong with you?"

"They said you were sick," Lugum whined, "but you don't look feverish. A-and I don't know what's wrong. I need to know." Lugum nervously stepped closer to the pikachu. He didn't even try to move away, but it looked like he put the effort in. Was he... Lugum shook her head. "Ago, d-did the physic ruin the surgery? Did he hurt your back?

The pikachu leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "I was stupid, Lu. Gullible. Leave before this hurts you..."

Trembling, Lugum lifted up one of his arms.

It fell down again limply. No response. Lugum covered her eyes and stepped back, whimpering. Ago was hurt, very hurt. Paralyzed from the neck down... and from what Lugum could tell, the drowsy did it on _purpose. _The thought of it turned her mind into mush. "Damn it, Lu. I told them to keep you out."

She couldn't look at the pikachu. The strong Ago still held a tiny corner of her mind, not yet drowned out by this new horror. "W-why? Why keep this from me?"

"He wants to piss you off, Lugum, so that you will follow him, and he can fucking kill you, Lu. This is how he gets you angry."

"Why kill me, though? What did I do... what did _you _do to deserve this?" She sobbed, putting her back against the wall.

Ago began to cough out too- a consequence of trying to hold back cries of his own. "Lugum, it is a lot to t-take in, but he has wanted your life for quite some time. He tried long ago- remember trying to bite off your tongue? It was his fucking fault. Daté drove him away, and I thought that he had been put at bay for the time."

He gritted his teeth angrily. "But that stupid... _fucking__... bird._ He botched killing him, and the drowsy found a new way to get at you through me. His wounds were sever enough to kill him- I saw them- yet he got up."

"Lu, he could have completely shattered my spine but he didn't... anything more than this would have just broken your spirit. You can't buy into getting revenge, for Arceus's sake. Don't be an idiot. He did kidnap two children, a pair of marill, as extra ransom. But Wigglytuff and Chatot are going to sort it out in the morning, so just stay put."

She jammed her back against the wall, trying to block it all out. "Where was I," she groaned, "where was I when you needed me? F-for a single day, I sit by and you get hurt... I'm a terrible friend. P-please, let me make it up. Let me catch him. I can save the marill."

Silence crept into the room, taking over the sad scene. It was only broken by Ago's crying. "L-Lu. It won't fix my back. Asabi said there's a chance, if she took drastic measures... but it's probably just to comfort me. I wanted to be useful, Lugum. But now... this is the last act of usefulness I'll probably ever attempt: keeping you from going after him. Afterwards... I don't know. We'll see how Asabi's procedure goes." He didn't seem so sure, as shown by his teary eyes. Only his last goal kept him alive; Lugum knew that there was no true 'afterwards' for him.

"_I demanded too much of you!_" Lugum wailed, covering her head. "_I hurt my friend!" _

"Stop, for Orcidia's fucking sake, stop talking like that!" Ago demanded. He went silent for a second, letting his demand sink in. "Lu. Do something for me."

She sniveled and squinted, barely able to see him through the blur of her tears. "W-what?"

"Curl up into a ball and cry, okay? Cry until someone comes and gets you. You will let Wigglytuff settle this, you hear me?" Nodding, Lugum covered her head and slowly sank down, doing what her friend needed. "There we go, Lu. Isn't that comfy? Keep going..." lower and lower, she sank into the stance she employed just this morning. And also a long time ago, against Choke and Zube on the beach, in order to protect Ago. "Everything will be okay. It's not your fault. Accept that."

Lugum instantly stopped. Ago's eyes went wide with fear as she slowly started to unravel from her ball. "_Accept _it?" She asked quietly, her breathing growing increasingly dire. Soon, she stood once again, her chest rising and falling sporadically. Her arms shook with tenseness and the tears stopped flowing. The storm cracked.

"I already have... I accepted it a long time ago... and so has this drowsy." It was only noticeable once it stopped, but the quiet murmur of the distant brawl finally died down. "_We who accept have no right meddling in the affairs of the doomed! For that I will fucking kill him! For that I will destroy every mite that composes his filthy, shitty body! From one end of Mount Steel, his cries shall echo and blood shall adorn the peak like a blanket of snow! For you, Ago! For balance! For Flightly's guilt! For my clan!" _

Ago couldn't understand what had happened. The Lugum he knew died right in front of him. In her place stood a frenzied, prideful, tall riolu. Her eyes bloodshot, her usually loose body tightened and composed, her breathing ragged and bestial. She looked towards Ago and gave him a toothy grin. "_For me... for The Gift!" _

He clenched his eyes shut as Lugum tore through the wall above the stone slab. She broke through the well-built stone with an all-out tackle. It was not natural; the riolu fell from the office and down into the rocky ocean, hundreds of feet below. With his limited mobility, he had trouble seeing the landing. But in a moment she saw the riolu, perfectly composed after the fall, scaling the cliff that would lead her to the common pasture. No equipment... no knowledge of where she goes...

But after the monstrosity he saw Lugum become, Ago knew which pokémon would leave Mount Steel alive.


	32. Tricks

**Hey everyone! I haven't had much time to update, but I want to at least get something out. After consulting a very helpful reviewer, I'm also slowly started to work on fixing up my earlier chapters. A big thanks to TheCharredDragon!**

* * *

Night came quickly for Daté. Moonlight soaked his surroundings, but there was no way to mistake the giant Mount Steel. With no more use for the map, the Grovyle crumpled it up and tossed it into the grass. He didn't need reminders of Semideum rustling about in his bag.

What now? Daté fought between two assumptions: that Lugum already entered the dungeon, and that she was on her way. If only Semideum had been more specific. Even now, when the Lucario desired to save Lugum, he taunted the Grovyle, daring him to be competent.

He shook his head violently. "You idiot," he hissed at himself. "Clear your head, stop panicking."

What did it matter where Lugum was, when his goal was to kill the disgusting Drowsy before Lugum got to him. Meaning that he just wasted time asking these inane questions, allowing the tragic danger of upcoming events to slowly crawl forward. He wanted to sleep, he _needed_ to rest after his exploration of Ifritan Volcano. His surroundings, dark shadows of rocky plains, began to blur as he wobbled from exhaustion.

Something far off and approaching quickly ripped him out of this stupor. It sounded like crying or screaming... but upon hearing it again... it sounded like laughter. He widened his eyes desperately, trying to pull in as much moonlight as possible. A dark figure, sprinting quickly towards the mouth of Mount Steel. Lugum.

Daté growled; he couldn't help it. As the small Riolu came into focus, Daté realized with a burning rage that she was _gleeful. Excited. _"You little _liar_," Daté whispered. The little cute, naïve act she put on, taking him in... all of it was to cover-up so she could play the Game without suspicion. He wasn't going to let this happen; step by step, he moved in on the Riolu. For once, he agreed with Semideum: this brat shouldn't get what she wants.

Dropping down to the ground, he slowly crawled up to her. "_Ha!" _Lugum screamed, looking up at the path leading up to Mount Steel's summit. "_Drowsy... come out, come out, wherever you are!" _Daté watched her tremble with anticipation as he approached her. "_I'll teach you to hurt Ago. No one steals my friends away. They're mine! All mine!" _

What a disgusting secret this Riolu kept away. Daté fought through that hellish volcano in order to save Pokémon like her. Somehow, when he felt that all was lost, defending her from the Drowsy that night brought him back from the depths of hopelessness. Now he would use that renewed spirit to put this to an end.

This was his only chance to act! With a quick leap, Daté flung out the sharp leaves in his wrists, attempting to hamstring the Riolu. If she was really part of the Game, then it would heal back; Semideum probably didn't mind if she suffered a little. The leaves whistled through the air, flying truly and quickly to their target. Her head snapped up and started at them speeding towards the back of her legs.

She not only lied about being kind; Lugum greatly undersold her talents. She leapt out of the way frantically, slamming into the ground painfully. The fear and anxiety in her eyes shone in the moon as Daté moved towards her. The Riolu's fur was damp and her right paw bloodied with a personal wound.

At first, she seemed enraged. Then, confused. And finally, extremely guilty and scared. A transition he saw before.

"D-Daté," Lugum whimpered, standing up. Breathing heavily, she walked unsurely towards him. It amazed the Grovyle to see how fast she her dropped back into the 'timid Riolu' act. "Where have you been? I needed you! I'm so scared... A-Ago is hurt and I'm so angry... p-please, I can hardly control myself-"

"Cut your shit." The Riolu cried out as Daté smacked her across the face.

"Daté?!" A shaky paw reached up and felt where the Grovyle had hit her. "Why?"

He shook his head. This was embarrassing. "You know why, Lugum. You're not getting close to that Drowsy."

"_He hurt Ago! We have to stop him before he strike again!" _Phony tears dropped into the grass, running down the blades like dew. "I don't know why you won't help me!"

Why did she continue to lie? Daté wanted to believe that it was only anger, that whatever happened to Ago devastated her so much that she broke down. Hearing something happened to that Pikachu, far too brave for his own good, made him upset. If there was a Pokémon out there that willingly tussled with someone like the Grovyle, they didn't deserve a band hand.

Knocking her out was the right choice, but Daté decided to test her- give Lugum one chance to prove her innocence. "Lugum, I'll go in by myself."

It relieved her to know that Daté wanted to help, but she shook her head. "I want to help. Ago is my friend, he needs me to do this for him."

Daté stubbornly rejected her. "No. I'll do it by myself, or we both go back."

No words could describe the amount of joy he felt when Lugum looked down and relented. "Fine. But you have to promise me that you'll take him in. I need to know why he wants to hurt me." Smiling, Daté secured the straps of both his bags. His mind whirled with the mystery of how to get Lugum out of the Game, how to keep her away from that dark secret. As he prepared for both Mount Steel and the conversations afterward, Lugum suddenly pointed out. "_The Drowsy! He's right behind you!" _

Was it even possible for the Drowsy to sneak up to him so quietly? If he covered the smell of rotting dark energy somehow, it would be possible to get this close. Daté Twisted around, sprouting more leaves into his wrist and readied himself. At least this saved him the trouble of having to go through Mount Steel. The Drowsy had to be an idiot to think he could take them both! "You fool, what do you think-"

Nothing. No one was there. Daté at that moment wished he could die from shame. How stupid was he? It wasn't necessary to look back, because he knew the Riolu already ran away. His heart burned for Lugum to simply be headstrong, but it wouldn't matter if he killed the Drowsy and gained the Gift.

"Damn it!" Without hesitating, he charged forward into Mount Steel.


	33. Escapes

"I... I had to trick him," Lugum told herself as she rounded about yet another precipice. Rocks flew off into a black abyss. Without Ago guiding her, she had no clue what would happen if she tripped. Would she simply be ejected from the dungeon, or would she leave the dungeon as a mangled corpse?

As the curves towards the summit became thinner and thinner, Lugum tried to slow down her pace. But her heart was thumping so hard that she would faint if she stopped now. "Only I can help Ago," she argued, trying to stave off her guilt and rising exhaustion. "S-sorry Daté, but I can't rely on you for this!"

When a sudden jolt sent her flying downwards, Lugum immediately snapped out of this trance. It was only a matter of time before her run through the night ended in disaster; She had ran too close to the edge of the cliff without noticing, and now the ground cracked right underneath her feet. Crying out, she tried to grab onto anything that would stop her from falling into the black abyss waiting below her.

The nighttime went completely dark as her head slammed against the hard rock of the path. The disorienting _crack_ that rung out as her head broke through more of the rough path reminded her of headbutting Floret... except much more undesirable and horrifyingly painful.

Disoriented and panicked, Lugum thought at first that she was falling to her death. But, after a few more terrible moments, she opened her eyes and saw that a shaky paw clutched a small piece of stone jutting out from the mountain.

Without even facing a feral, Lugum had already injured herself badly. Her head felt like it was splitting apart, and the rock grabbed her paw more than her paw grabbed it back. After getting her left paw on the ledge, she gritted her teeth and gradually pulled upwards. The moment she got a leg back up she jumped forward and threw herself into the side of the mountain.

Lugum hadn't felt this bad since the grate hit her. Once her breathing was back under control, the Riolu realized just how cold and weak she really was. What was she doing out here? A concussion, a badly injured paw, and the start of a very grievous fever... Mount Steel didn't even need to send anything after her. All of the terrible choices she made were already killing her.

"This isn't some hill to the Wigglytuff Guild, Lu," Lugum sobbed. "it's the real d-deal, and you messed i-it all up..." shivering and cold, Lugum tried to avoid the freezing rain by crouching under the mountain. No matter what, though, there was no hiding from the pounding rain. She sneezed and curled in closer. Everything began to run cold, including the blood from her head wound.

Even in the middle of the storm, Lugum couldn't mistake the sound of pebbles skipping by her. Her head snapped up immediately, searching for a reason why. "No, no, _no_..." how long had this senseless trip taken? Of course ferals would be close behind her, waiting for that one moment where she faltered. And it happened; a Machop sneaked around the corner of the ledge, anticipating the capture of his weakened quarry.

The Riolu desperately fell onto her back and started to kick away, but the Machop only advanced slowly. "_Please_," Lugum begged as she attempted to escape to anywhere but where she was at that point. "Don't." Exhausted beyond its limit, Lugum's body only kicked weakly as the Machop grabbed onto her foot. "Leave me alone," Lugum coughed out during a sneeze.

That damned Drowsy... Lugum could see the top of the mountain from her view- the view of a Riolu looking straight up as a Machop dragged her away. Probably to its warm den, where it could discover the edibility of Riolu in peace. She scrabbled frantically for something to hold onto and pleaded silently. "Fl...Flightly, Ago, Daté? Help me..."

Flightly? That bastard. He caused Ago's injury. He always lied to her, and he did it again with the Drowsy. She had been manipulated one too many times by him.

Ago? Why couldn't he ever just accept that Lugum wanted him the way he was? Instead, he ran around with Spikes and poked his nose into dangerous things. He was supposed to be smart...

And Daté? Daté didn't understand her. And he hit her, too. And she felt so good, so _ready_, until the Grovyle stumbled upon her at the bottom of Mount Steel. Now, she was sick and being dragged away._  
_

All three of them shared in one thing, though: wanting to help her. It was all her fault, every single time. If she wasn't so helpless, they wouldn't have to sacrifice so much and work so hard just to keep her safe. What a pathetic Riolu she was, always hurting her friends...

"_Get off of me! Get the hell away from me!" _Lugum's foot became warm again when it slammed into the damned Machop's head. The feral, surprised to see the sick Riolu fighting back, instantly let go of her other leg and stumbled away, holding its head. Not wanting to sit dumbly while her surge of strength faded, Lugum shot up and put her paws up, ready to fight.

Enraged by the sudden attack, the feral dove at her, attempting to subdue Lugum once and for all. The Riolu's head whirled, making her so dizzy that only the wind of the Machop's quick attacks brushing against her fur gave her direction. The gash in her right paw from clutching the rock burned painfully every time it connected with the feral's body. As time waned on, the Machop's exhaustion soon rivaled Lugum's own.

An insanely fast, frantically executed kick rocketed over her head as she ducked down. Lugum caught the leg with her right paw and jumped up, jarring her left paw into the Machop's neck. She couldn't see anything anymore, but it didn't take decent vision in order to slam the Machop into the wall, however. The Pokémon struggled to break away and taste air again. His body, which was warmed up from idle time in its den, was much too great for the cold Riolu. She couldn't let go of this warm feeling.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax, her shivering body pressed up against the Machop and enjoying its body's heat. They held this lethal position until Lugum's left paw fell asleep from being pressed too deeply in the Machop's neck, but it didn't matter much at that point; the life and the heat of the unsuspected feral left just minutes earlier.

After she killed the Drowsy, the other Pokémon who 'accepted', no one would need to help her. Wiping the blood off of her head, she slowly limped towards the top of Mount Steel. He was waiting, and she had no reason to rush into an ambush by him or another feral. Everything would be hers, soon.

* * *

"Where the hell is that brat?!" Drowsy cursed. It was beyond freezing on the top of the hill- if he had known that a storm this bad was coming, he would have chose to kill her in the nearby forest. Instead, he decided to be fancy, idealistic and way too safe. What did he expect from the Master? Thunderbolts and all-knowing power? Even business like this ran logically, and this was like something out of a fairy-tale.

"I-i-i-it's c-c-c-cold," the runt Marill at his feet whined. A little pile of blue, worthless skin, Drowsy wondered if he would rather just kill the Marill now and try again another day. Either way, he'd be doing himself a kind service. Sighing, he stepped onto the Marill with a soggy foot. The Marill's skin was icy to the touch.

He laughed cruelly. "Ha! You really are freezing over, huh? Is it cold, though? Is it, you stupid shit?" The little thing cried out as Drowsy pushed it into the puddle of water pooled up around her. It truly was music to his ears. "Oh, if only you had your _speshul float!" _Drowsy mocked. "Pokémon inside and outside of dungeons are simply mean, idiot. Just because you lived in a sunny town all of your wretched- and I must add, short- life doesn't mean we all got that treatment."

Nothing else presented itself, so he decided to pace about and give the Marill some time to shiver in peace. "You simply _love_ your little life in Treasure Town, don't you? Well I didn't! Not every village is lucky enough to become a rotting piece of shit for guilds to levitate towards. We never got 'two-for-one' specials on apples in my village. We hardly ever bought one a day!"

"But I've seen a new world, Marill, and it looks fantastic. Where every little luxury you know will come to an end. And _I _will be there for it! Oh, will it be glorious!"

The Marill sat up, sputtering. "I d-d-d-don't know... don't know why you are so angry. Please, tell my father. H-h-he'll understand."

Stupid kid. Drowsy knew it was a bad idea to give her a chance to speak. He walked back over and stomped on her, putting her back into the puddle. Other than this, there wasn't much entertainment on the flat peak. "Ha. Soon, you'll have no dad to rely on."

"N-n-no!"

"Welcome to my childhood, brat."

What the Marill did next, Drowsy couldn't believe: the pampered rat actually started to try and fight back! Enthralled and amused by the performance, the corrupt doctor let her make her way up, wondering what the thrilling plan she cooked up involved. Rolling up, the little shaking thing stood tall. He expected her to run for the path leading back down Mount Steel, but the Marill stood her ground.

She planted her tiny feet and tried to keep her balance. "Your heart is cold as ice! You need help!"

Really? She planned to _talk her way out?! _Drowsy never found anything more hilarious. "Rat. I'm a _doctor;_ what makes you think that I need anyone else's help?"

The chance to speak warmed up the Marill. "W-when others help you, they give you what you need to do things for yourself! My father quit exploring because mother didn't want him to be hurt. This made him very lonely and we also had no money to buy food. B-but... the Kecleon Brothers helped feed us, even when father was too ashamed to tell us... and he found a way to get over his loneliness! And now everything is better-"

"_Was better_," Drowsy corrected. "I must inform you that I've successfully destroyed this touching story."

"_No!" _The Marill shouted desperately. "You won't accept help from anyone, and Pokémon like that get very hurt. You don't know it yet, but you'll get what's coming to you!"

Drowsy chortled meanly. "From who, brat? Please, I'm absolutely _enthused_ to find out what Pokémon on this peak can give me my dues."

The Marill looked around, and found out she was still the only one facing the Drowsy. "I will! M-my brother _helped_ me learn this move... so I can use it on bullies like you!" Drowsy watched the Marill breathe in and waited for something truly pathetic. "_Bubble attack!" _

Tiny, harmless bubbles escaped from the water type's mouth, doing absolutely nothing to the Drowsy.

What an embarrassing display, after that heated speech! "Ha! Oh no, I'm so scared of the power of your brother's help. Please, someone save-"

All of the bubbles popped in unison as a screeching noise started to vibrate throughout the top of Mount Steel. Drowsy looked down to see pebbles shaking next to his feet. Was this the doing of the Marill? Even the rain began to part for the noise, moving in odd directions that shouldn't have been possible. Yellow light simulated the sunrise that was still hours away.

No, it wasn't the Marill doing it. It was the Pokémon he had waited for, the Riolu. He had been too caught up in harassing the Marill about her beliefs that he never noticed his target enter the end of the dungeon. He prepared himself frantically, and it ended up being in all the wrong ways; as the small Marill turned around and saw what was happening behind her, a dark figure at the other side of the peak released a bright, vivid beam.

* * *

Drowsy coughed, trying to find out which parts of his body weren't totally singed or paralyzed. That damned Riolu shouldn't have the ability to unleash such an attack- all of those hours of studying, of making sure this battle went perfectly... they were all a waste.

"My ear!" The brat cried. It looked like this Riolu, Lugum, cared as little about the Marill as he did. She fired the hyper beam too early and nicked a part of her ear, turning it completely black. Panicked and in grave danger, Drowsy fought to clear away the excess of bright light left over from the beam so that he could see his opponent.

How did this Riolu execute a hyper beam in her current condition?! He knew that she too played the Game, but it was ridiculous for Lugum to remain standing when she looked this dead. Disregarding all of her current pain, she dropped down to one knee by the Marill's side. With a red-streaked paw, Lugum stroked the ear, inspecting it.

She looked away, disinterested. "Shut up, kid. Everything is all right," she mumbled. Then came both a sneeze and a cough from the half-dead Pokémon; she was sick. Drowsy fought with all of his might to deny that this was all a nightmare. That the tables had somehow been turned, and now the Riolu stalked his dreams.

"_No!" _He screamed, "_this__ isn't fair! I prepared for you, I studied for you... I brought you to this peak sick, infuriated and already half-dead... yet I am on the ground? Bullshit! I demand a proper result!" _Even the doctor knew that his anger had subsided into angry wailing, and the Riolu only gave him a tired glance.

She tried to respond sensibly, but had to shake her head clear before she could. "Flightly gave you the information you needed to make a move," she rasped. Her voice didn't sound so scratchy and choked just a moment ago... maybe the hyper beam had unavoidable consequences. Right then, an unsuspected hypnosis attack could force her to strike her throat, or maybe throw herself down, where she wouldn't have the strength to get up again.

"They are my friends. You had no right bringing them into this. If you wanted to face me, all you had to do was ask."

"All... all I had to do was ask you?" Drowsy stammered. He would not stand by and let this fucking zombie taunt him! "_No! All I had to do was this!" _Using the last strength of his damaged body, he sent out a simple hypnotic strike aimed at temporarily stealing control of her body. Nothing happened. The Riolu waited patiently for him to make a move he had already executed.

Just when he thought he had managed to win... he noticed her _concussion_. "Y-you gave yourself that head-wound on purpose!" He accused. "your mind is so weak it can't be controlled by psychic attacks, but the Gift keeps you going where it does not."

The Marill watched silently as Lugum slowly approached the Drowsy. "No," Lugum coughed. "_I _kept myself going. The 'Gift' can rot, for all I care. This is for my friends."

"Really?" The Drowsy chuckled, finally giving up on the Game he lost. "We both know you are lying. This little charade has brought you in so far... ha! You really think you have a chance to live with them! They're all going to die, while you live! _Congratulations, you bitch!_"

At least he would die after pissing the Riolu off. "_Shut up,_" she hacked. Whatever was happening to her, it was reaching a bad point. "I'm placing you under arrest." The Drowsy could hardly believe what Lugum just said. His mind tried to decipher whether what she said was a cruel joke or simply some more inane rambling.

But green arms snatched his attacker away from her indeterminate goal. A Grovyle, panicked and breathing hard, picked her up by the skin of her neck. Lugum's eyes widened as he ripped her away. How glorious! The Riolu screamed and flailed, trying to break lose and deliver that necessary killing strike. Drowsy looked up at the Riolu, giving her the best smug smile he could. "Better luck next time, bitch."

The Grovyle threw the Riolu to the side quickly and bent down low. "You... you're Daté," Drowsy realized. "That Grovyle that was with Semideum. Looks like I'm getting a second chance, right?"

"No." Whatever dreams of suffering this Drowsy had would need to be supplied by Giratina; Daté quickly and mercilessly slammed his razor leaves into his throat, decapitating him.

* * *

Daté waited for Lugum to stop screaming and scrambling towards the headless Drowsy before he picked her up. Weakened and sick, she managed to do nothing but rub her bleeding paw all over him. "_No, D-Daté! Why, why did you go and do that?!" _

Lugum sputtered and sobbed, unable to take her eyes off of the Drowsy's head. The Grovyle had cut it off very cleanly. He owned a lot of experience dealing with those in the Game, however, so it didn't surprise him. "Oh, are you sad?" He spat angrily. "Did the 'oh, look over there!' trick not work well enough for you? Like he said: better luck next time bitch-"

"_You killed him! A s-sentient Pokémon... you just cut off his head for no reason_! _I had him under arrest!" _Lugum screamed, horrified. She hacked uncontrollably and blood speckled the ground in front of her. The rain washed this blood away just for it to return moments later.

Was this just another act? A last-ditch effort to save herself from Daté? "Lugum," he muttered, "let me heal your wounds. I don't have much, but-"

"_Stay away!" _She curled up and threw herself out of the Grovyle's grasp. "Killing F-ferals isn't anything like this. _You_ _murdered him!"_

Even the Marill behind him shrunk away from his actions. He ran in without thinking, too afraid of standing by while Lugum gained the Gift. He was the villain, here. "I'm sorry, Lugum," he whispered. "But this is my nature. I see danger, and I kill it." _Except you,_ Daté wanted to say_. _He couldn't imagine killing Lugum.

He picked up the sick, wounded Pokémon, who wrapped her arms around him and held tight. "P-please take the Marill and me away from here," she begged quietly. "I want to go home and be near Ago."

The rain seemed to let up a little, so at least the walk back wouldn't be completely miserable. Why would it be? Lugum was alright and if Semideum held his end of the bargain, the newest Time Gear would be safe. "Okay," he promised. "Let's get you right back into a warm bed."

Luckily, the problem with her throat appeared to be clearing up. And, as the Gift and her strong constitution enabled, the wounds on Lugum's body were already beginning to take on a healthier appearance. "D-Daté," Lugum whimpered, moving in close in order to stay warm. "I have so much to tell you. We started our t-team, and we got into tons of trouble already, a-and a Tyranitar adopted me and sent me this scary gift, a-and you have to meet Vigz and Lilith. They're really violent but not in a bad way... and I accidentally made Flightly my second in command w-when I really wanted Ago, and-"

"Enough, Lugum. You can tell me when you're not half-dead."

He didn't trust her completely- a simple judgment he passed in order to survive. But, against all of the instincts warning him, he couldn't help but pray for her fast recovery and accept that his mistrust was wrong; It was obvious that she didn't want the Gift nor knew what power it gave. He would never be able to tell her everything. Yet, for once, Daté found solace in an another unintended consequence of the bleak future.

* * *

**Author's note: **

**Thank you for reading this far! This story is starting to pick up, and I _promise _that it only gets more intense from here. While it's not the end of part 2, the resolution reached here will really be the start to the thick of the story and a major turning point. So keep reading, and I hope you enjoy the ride! **


	34. Passes

The sunrise found Daté, Lugum, and the Marill on the outskirts of the common pasture, the warm light warming up the miserable group. The Grovyle fought to stay awake and keep the squirming, feverish Riolu tightly secured on his shoulder- not an easy feat when one is carrying two bags. Still terrified of the executioner yet too tired to complain, the littler Marill also managed to make her way into Daté's arms.

Daté's green body absorbed the sunlight as if his life depended on it. Even the new source of energy fell short, only bring some sensation back into his arms and legs. If they hadn't arrived at the common pasture when they did, it would have meant serious trouble for all three of them.

Just when things shouldn't have been able to get any worse, Daté saw Semideum waiting at the edge of the pasture. Anything was possible, even the possibility that the Lucario never really left him alone on his adventure to save Lugum. But when he saw the two of them in one piece, he was noticeably eager and surprised.

"Don't come near me," Daté grumbled. "I'm on the verge of collapsing, and I don't really want to deal with your shit right now."

Semideum laughed and clapped his paws together. It was a little silly to keep up the pretense that the sight of the Riolu didn't overjoy him, but he tried to anyway. "Daté, why I never... since when have you become such a wonderful nanny? Did I inspire you with my feeding skills?"

Thin, short blades of grass rustled about as the Grovyle threw himself down for a short rest. The Lucario sighed and sat down next to him. "I'll deck you in a minute, you bastard. Just... Arceus help me I'm tired."

"Rough night?"

"That's number two," Daté fumed as he adjusted Lugum. With the sick Riolu curled up around him and his left arm busy cradling the Marill, he really did look like a nanny. "One more and I'll get violent."

Semideum brooded over Daté's words as he laid down in the wet grass. "Oh, strike two? After everything we've been through, I thought the count would be higher." A sudden sneeze came from Lugum. She woke up at the sound of their talking and peered blindly into the pasture, too weak to see anything just yet. When she tried to squint at the Lucario, he sat back up and bent her head in the other direction. "Does she have the Gift?"

Considering his situation, Daté was being exceptionally brave. "No. I'd rather die than help you in that way."

Small whines came from the fevered Pokémon as the Lucario inspected her head. He forced open her mouth and made sure no teeth were missing, and then probed the gash on her right paw with his own paw. "Another of my clan... how long has it been?" He turned to Daté, a sad look on his face. "Why won't you help me, Daté? I did this for companionship- the politics of our time have nothing to do with this."

"Exactly, you fucking fool," Daté growled. "She wants neither the Gift nor to live with you."

"Really?" He met Daté's aggression with a deathly stare, one that dared him to say _yes, really._

"At the end of her idiotic romp all she wanted to do was lock up the Drowsy." Daté returned Semideum's stare with equal determination. "I... I never met a simpler Pokémon in my life. She wants two things: exploring and friends. Everything else might as well be nonexistent."

Instead of striking out, Semideum turned his gaze towards the sky. "I'll take your word for it. For now, I'll let her live in town until the day comes where I must tell her everything. Your insight is sound. Although..." Daté flinched when the Lucario's arm flew around his back. The Marill rolled about uncomfortably as the Grovyle's body shook. "You always have these peculiar doubts about everything."

"For example: you doubt that I'm really your enemy, now and forever. Something in the back of your mind tells you that your master, whom you entrusted with your life and future, will someday join the 'right side'. We know each other to an absolute maximum of art and skill. We grew together, found hope in each other's progress. I turned your swings of a stick into the slashes of a _born warrior_. My second best protege, truly."

"You miss me, Daté. You doubt that this strength you founded as my study is something you can maintain. My lessons left you strong while this dream of yours leaves you thirsty and dying outside of a dungeon... every minute Daté the Grovyle, _hero of the future wastes,_ tries to ignore the doubts saying that he made the wrong choice. Because _he misses his precious master. _Unlike your silly dream of me joining you, this Riolu shall stand by my side."

Daté cringed and averted his eyes as his master brought their heads together. Other than his friend, the Grovyle had never known a closer bond of friendship. It reminded him of that forgotten friend, and he realized just how desperate he was to have those feelings back. "C-come with me," Daté begged his master, "fight him. Don't let him control you. Be... be what Semideum really wants to be!"

Quiet chuckles came from the Lucario. Then, with a powerful push, he sent the Grovyle and the Pokémon he carried flying into the soft grass. "_You fucking fool!" _Semideum roared. It sounded exactly like his voice... his voice when he chastised Daté for a bad execution of a move. "_He wants neither you nor this future you fight for!" _

The Marill woke up immediately and began to look around frantically, but the Lucario was already gone. "W-what happened?" She cried out, "did you t-trip or something mister? Why are you crying?" Daté looked around quietly for his master. When that didn't turn up anything, he gritted his teeth and held back choking sobs. Why did his instructor have to raise his voice like that?

No... the Grovyle couldn't allow himself to be manipulated by Semideum. He would love if Daté began to feel that this was a childish game and came crawling back. But out of all the doubts he had... this mission accounted for none of them.

He rose to his feet and saw that Semideum did not take Lugum with him. It infuriated the Lucario, but he stood by his promise to not take Lugum with him until the day of reckoning. "Kid, if you knew half of what I've gone through, it'd be strange for you to _stop_ crying." He picked up the sick Riolu and started towards the conclusion of his harrowing two months out of Treasure Town.

* * *

Lugum slept for as long as she could, enduring the nightmares that this unsettling slumber brought upon her. Ago's paralysis, Daté's merciless murder and her own terrible condition rose up again and again. Only once had she caught a break from these recurring horrors, and even then it was the unsettling dream of someone putting their paws inside of her mouth.

Once these nightmares became too much to bear with, Lugum finally decided to wake up and hope for the best. If she had found herself in any other place than the Wigglytuff Guild, she didn't know what she would do. But the comfortable yellow room greeted her, and she nearly cried out of relief.

"Oh," a familiar voice cried out. "You're awake!" Everything was still so blurry, and Lugum's body felt completely enervated, but she still recognized the Chimecho now inspecting her. Seeing Asabi awake brought back a very embarrassing memory.

She struggled with pain and grogginess in her attempt to apologize. "A-Asabi. I'm so sorry!" Lugum whispered, reaching out. The white bandages around her right paw shimmered in the sunlight before Asabi forced it back down. _Shimmered..._ in the sunlight? Lugum turned to her left and finally saw the blurry edges of the huge hole she made during her escape from the Wigglytuff Guild.

With the Festival of the Meteor- an annual celebration of the coming of Winter- so close, Lugum could only imagine how frigid the water must be. To think that she dived into it... to think that she had crashed through the wall! "_Ah!" _Lugum squeaked. "_Oh no, I did all of this! _I'll sell some furniture and pay for the repairs, I promise-"

"Quiet, you hardheaded beast," Asabi sighed. "I'm not angry in the least- I've confronted enough panicked Pokémon... a good punch was what I deserved for how poorly I handled the situation." The Chimecho laughed nervously. "But... you need to watch where you point those paws of yours, Lugum. You can straight up knock the head off of a Pokémon with those."

Asabi's reassuring words only ended up reminding her of the decapitated Drowsy's head. Daté had cut it so nicely, like a professional killer gathering proof of his success. In response to the image, Lugum whispered another _sorry_ and turned away from the gap.

Slow clapping came from behind Asabi. "Ten out of ten, doc. You really know how to phrase what you say. Want to bring up anything else? My back, for instance? Let's bring that up."

"You want to come over here and talk to her, you ass?" Asabi retorted. It seemed very playful, however; like the cruel joking someone did after going through something very rough.

A yellow outline of a Pokémon, who was waiting patiently in the back of the room, stood up. He grabbed a wooden cane resting next to him and limped forward slowly. "Ago..." Lugum couldn't believe her eyes at first, but it really was him. "_Ago!" _It was hard to aim her weak paws very well, so she simply held them out and hoped for the best.

The moment that Ago went between her paws, she sealed the healthy Pikachu in an unbreakable hold. "_Ago, you're okay!" _He started to squirm and try to break free, but he wasn't getting away from her that easily! "_Please don't do anything like that ever again! I'll never leave your side, never ever!"_

"Lu, let go."

"_Never!" _

"Lu... seriously... you need to let go."

"_Stop talking and just let me enjoy this!"_

"Lugum! S-seriously, let g-go before I accidentally-"

A small _crack_ resounded through Asabi's office. It felt as though Lugum had been punched in the chest. Burning heat wrenched the air from her lungs and caused her arms to shake violently. For a moment her heart stopped, and then a moment later resumed beating faster than ever. Her vision's blurriness was replaced by clear, vivid light. The smell of burnt fur rose in the room.

It should have been painful, but the shock actually felt very rejuvenating. Sitting up, on the stone slab, Lugum rubbed off some of the burning heat lingering on her arms. "What was... what was that?"

Asabi sighed and looked her over again, making sure the shock didn't harm her already weakened body. "After hearing what Ago said to you, before you ran away... I knew that I didn't have a choice. It was life or death, in a way, so I attempted to surgically fix his spine."

Ago laughed. "You played my spine like a fucking champ, Asabi."

"N-no, I didn't," the Chimecho argued. "I had to harm your motor skills just to get you moving like this..." Lugum, whose vision had cleared after the shock, now received another one. The cane wasn't for holding up a rigid, injured body; Ago's body seemed as floppy as a doll made of cloth. Before the Riolu could fret over his scary condition, his arms snapped up and reached out towards her.

He shook his head. "I honestly don't care if it's a bit harder to move my body, or if I have to flop around everywhere I go. You fixed the one thing I needed, Asabi." A beaming smile reassured the fretful Riolu like nothing else could. "Lugum, she actually fixed my electricity issue! I can fight back now!"

The truth was that Lugum didn't care a smidgen whether or not he had his electricity. All she cared about was that he was okay and happy. And if this made him happy, then it really was the best news she ever heard. "Ago, I'm so happy for you! F-for a minute, I thought that I lost you... s-so I became very angry-"

"I know, Lugum. It feels great... to know just how much I mean to you as a friend."

Ago... Ago always knew the right thing to say. She nodded slowly. "Listen, Ago... about the order of succession on our team..."

"Yeah, I heard about that."

She slid her legs over the side of the bench. She still had a splitting headache and still contended with the fever, but there was business to attend to immediately- and Asabi didn't complain, so it had to be okay. "You're first in line. I'm moving Flightly to the bottom. Maybe even out of Team Wayfarer."

It came as a surprise when Ago disagreed with her on this plan. "Hell, I'll gladly take first in line if it means that idiot doesn't get it. But, Lu, I honestly don't give a shit about anymore- how can I hold a grudge when these events led me to being useful? In fact... you're being a little weak if you kick him out."

"_What?!"_

"Yeah. If you kick him out, you're giving up the moment our team has a single failure to communicate. Continue on like that, and our team will be gone in no time!"

"Your team may be gone anyway," a tired voice muttered from behind them. Lugum knew who it was without having to look. It was Chatot, exhausted and very upset. Unlike the other times, however, he appeared to be completely tapped of his usual fervor. Even in his dull tone, the words knocked the air out of Lugum's chest, causing her to inhale quickly.

Asabi tried to mediate the situation before it got out of hand. "Chatot, not right now. Wait until she is a bit better."

He snapped his head up and swung out a wing, insisting that the Chimecho move aside. "No. After the events with the grate and recent details of her trip to Mount Steel... I am now under the impression that she is always perfectly fine." Before Lugum could respond, he threw his wing forward, now using it to silence her. He averted his eyes. "Are you aware, Lugum, of the crimes your team committed right under your nose yesterday?"

"N-no..."

"Allegedly, Flightly, Vigz, and Lilith- three members of Team Wayfarer- banded together in an attempt to murder a civilian. The only evidence that warranted this violence was cursory. Luckily for them, so is the evidence of their assault." Lugum couldn't believe that Flightly dragged other teammates into an assassination attempt. "Less alleged and more confirmed, you struck a fellow guild member, caused damage to your guild's walls, and also ran off to a dungeon _without_ the proper formalities."

Things looked very bad for her team. This didn't have a good side like their misadventures in Shellder Town. She didn't know why she felt compelled to ask about Daté- perhaps to take attention away from her team's crimes- but it felt necessary. "What about Daté?" Lugum asked Chatot quietly.

Chatot clutched the ground furiously with his talons. "Daté was placed under arrest after the kidnapped Marill relayed the events that occurred on the summit of Mount Steel. But... but Wigglytuff let him go in exchange for his red satchel. You want to know what was inside? _Typical exploring supplies._ Wigglytuff let him get away for the _second time- fooled by a silly trick! _He should_ rot in a cell_, the slippery bastard!" Chatot hissed angrily. Nobody in Asabi's office could quite believe that they were hearing their Commanding Officer complain. They smartly chose to let it pass.

Finally, it did come to pass. "And Lugum... I appreciate your effort to arrest the Drowsy, after everything you did wrong. For that reason, I am placing every member on your team except you and Ago under immediate suspension until I choose they deserve otherwise. Which subsequently means that our cooperative exploration to Fogbound Lake will only be open to the two of you." Lugum, for the second time since she had woken up, could cry out of relief.

Ago seemed fairly pleased as well. "Uh, that's great, Chatot. But what's Fogbound Lake?"

"We've been planning this trip for weeks," Chatot explained. "Maybe if you spent more time exploring instead of assassinating you would know. You... you all better shape up, and _fast._ I'm at my wits end..." the Commanding Officer continued to mumble as he walked away.

Lugum didn't realize that she was trembling until Ago grabbed her arm. He shot over a confident smile that she had no choice but to return. "Lugum, we're going to do this one so right, no one will ever doubt our team again. Let's get ready to tear the living shit out of Fogbound Lake."

While comforting. It wasn't what the Lugum worried about. Really, it was the fact she couldn't for her life take her mind off of Daté. He was hiding a very dark secret that used to be in that red satchel, and Wigglytuff knew about it. Even worse, Daté knew much more about her than she did.

It became her goal then, to figure out the Grovyle before he could do the same to her.


	35. Separates

_"T-t-t-that's all, right?" Rekel whispered nervously. "Now we just wait and see?" __The other Ninetales only sighed and picked up the small bag of poké from the table. _

_Rekel didn't like the response at all: "We'll see." Seeing wasn't what Rekel needed; he needed for his brother to be very proud of him... and for the family line to live on. He frowned and started to pace back and forth frantically. "Look, Rekel. One Ditto works just as well as another for this kind of stuff. But if you ever want to see the kid, your brother better stop breathing down my neck. If nothing happens, that's not my fault."_

_Not willing to anger the Ditto, he nodded feverously and tried to placate her... or it. "R-r-r-right. I understand- I'll talk to him immediately." He looked away, embarrassed and ashamed. "Thank you... for..."_

_"Seriously, don't even try to mention it," the fake Ninetales scoffed. It secured the laces of the small bag in its mouth and walked out of the lonely wooden home. Rekel watched on, hoping he managed to do everything right._

"You're useless. You know that, right?" Rekel hissed. Roposo responded with a few surprised coughs. Ever since he adopted that Gothorita, his health had slowly deteriorated and he found it harder every day to pay attention to the present. "You smelt the Riolu lying down in the cave, yet you decided to go on the silly tour anyway? You could have taken them both on, you fool! You're a _damned Ninetales_! My kin!"

Rekel breathed in and out slowly, trying to regain control of his own mind. "B-brother... you promised I didn't have to do any of the killing-"

"_Take her from the fucking cave, idiot!" _Roposo screamed, baring his teeth. His jaw flew out at Rekel and the sharp canines inside cut the younger brother's cheek. Something between a cough and a yelp escaped from Rekel as the sharp teeth slid across his face. His brother's fangs locked around his neck, ready to bite down.

It hurt Rekel badly to feel the way he did about the situation... to feel that his brother was no longer bluffing. Never before had he needed to persuade his own brother not to hurt him. "Brother, you must remember," he wheezed through the tightening hold, "that the Gift wouldn't exempt us from incarceration. Would you like to spend the months waiting for our reward locked away?"

Thankfully, Roposo slowly loosened his teeth. Rekel cringed, sad that his fine fur had been tarnished by the red streaks of blood. Of all the things he never provided to himself, fine care for his fur was the one thing he held on to. "So, my genius brother... how do you plan to kill her now?"

"Something bad happened to the Riolu two days ago, after Ago- the Pikachu- sent me away," Rekel explained slowly. "It will take a... a few days to- _brother! S-stop it!"_ Rekel cried out. The pressure of Roposo's jaw increased, threatening to snap the Ninetale's neck. "I'll g-g-g-go now and figure out what happened, and determine when and how we get her alone. _Let me go and I'll do it I promise you!" _Rekel sobbed.

Chuckling, Roposo slowly let go. Rekel breathed heavily, both relieved and terrified. "Get going, and take that bitch Gothorita with you, before I decide to wring her neck as well."

Rekel averted his eyes and coughed. "You're scaring me, brother. You have been for a very long time. I thought that you really wanted to kill me, there."

When Roposo only silently stared at the nearby trees in their temporary hiding place, Rekel stalked away, not sure what to feel anymore.

* * *

"Flightly."

"Say my name again, Lilith, and I will gouge your eyes out."

"Flightly."

The Pidgeotto opened his eyes and jumped down from his roost. Why couldn't the Furret leave him alone? He felt groggy, ashamed, and very unwilling to wake up and face the day. "Lilith, Vigz. You may wish to reconsider pinning all of your blame on me. You two were equally excited to attack the Drowsy." The Furret only frowned and pointed at a downed Sneasel. _"_What did he do?" He asked tiredly.

She clenched her front claws tightly. "He wouldn't stop complimenting me on my swordsmanship yesterday. And then he started to make a lot of jokes about cards and 'playing games with his heart'... so I punched him. Do we have to report this to the guild master, like the other issue?"

"...No. I do not think so," Flightly sighed. "Vigorish, if you are pestering her, it needs to stop. We will never be let off of suspension if you two start brawling."

Suspension was somehow the least of Flightly's worries; to think that Lugum, who was always so endearingly absentminded, now wanted to keep her distance from him. If it wasn't for Ago's insistence, Lugum would probably kick him off of the team.

Instead, they decided to live together at the guild until the exploration to Fogbound Lake was finished. With Ago's spine corrected- or as 'correct' as it would ever be- the two had shut themselves away from the suspended members on their team, choosing to train only with each other. It made Flightly sad to think that Lugum would go to such lengths in order to avoid him.

Unable to hold in all of his frustration, he turned to a resting Grovyle lying on one of Lugum's many sofas. A decrepit brown satchel was still wrapped around his shoulder- did he seriously sleep with it on? "Hey, you. Care to help a little?" Daté smiled and shook his head. "How about going to the river, then? Wherever you went off to, liar, it left you smelling like soot and burnt skin. At the very least, you can fix _that." _

The leaves attached to Daté's wrist rustled as he threw an arm up disdainfully. "You smell like a manipulative bastard, Flightly. It really is a shame you can't _wash_ that away, huh?" Lilith winced at the volatile remark, but the Pidgeotto didn't mind it very much. It was true; he had went behind Lugum's back greedily. It wasn't an act of love at all...

Flightly nodded. "Arceus knows I have tried."

This forced a chuckle out of the Grovyle. He rose up finally and removed the strap from around his shoulder. He inspected it thoughtfully, and then very carefully set it down. "Fine, I'll wash up. Save the pity-partying for your little troupe of murderers, though." Without warning, the cheeky act Daté wore burned away, leaving one very angry Grovyle. "Touch the satchel and I'll kill you all."

Vigz, recovered from Lilith's rejection, laughed nervously. "L-Lugum was right about you, _hee hee! _You're such a kidder!"

"I'm not joking around. Touch it and everyone in this cave at that time dies. There are many ways to determine if you have, and I will go through each one the moment I return."

This was ridiculous, and it was going to start rousing the two other violent Pokémon in Sharpedo's Bluff. "Take the bag with you," Flightly demanded. "All of that tough-talk pressures me to into opening it." Whatever Lugum saw in this Grovyle, Flightly could not replicate it for the life of him. The Grovyle completely ignored him and slipped out from under the hatch.

Murmurs came from outside, and Daté was soon poking his head back into the cave. "You've got a guest, Flightly. Big old Nidoking." The Pidgeotto froze on the spot, not knowing how to react. Large Smash, one of the most notorious tamers in Treasure Town, was waiting outside of his home. Desperate, Fligthly unfolded his wings and began to flap them, trying to get the Grovyle to send him away. "Yeah!" Daté called out, a malicious grin on his upside-down face, "he'd love to chat- he'll be out soon!"

"Asshole!" Flightly hissed. Daté waved to him and withdrew, running down the path. "Lilith, Vigorish," he said quietly, "stay back, but be ready in case he attacks."

Lilith crossed her arms doubtfully. "We all know how well your commands go, Flightly. Plus, Lugum put us higher on the succession list, meaning _we_ order _you_ around."

He was as good as dead, in that case. It was too early in his morning for this to be happening. Steeling himself, he went over to the latch and opened it. As Daté said, Large Smash waited patiently for him, a stern look on his face. Thankfully, the large Nidoking didn't look like he was about to become violent. In fact... the tamer almost seemed very desperate and anxious. "Hello, Large Smash. You may have missed it when I attempted to kill you a few months ago, but I do not like you very much-"

"Shut up, you shitting feral," Large Smash mumbled. "I need your help with something."

"I am absolutely enthused and obligated to help you."

Large Smash flashed a coy smile; Flightly knew that he had some trick prepared. "I've spoken with your friend Calor," he mentioned casually. The Pidgeotto kept a straight face, but couldn't help but to be a little curious. "For a very low price, he mentioned something about you and a... um... Bayleef?"

Flightly scoffed. No one in this town knew anything about the relationship between him and Spell. "What does he know?" The Pidgeotto laughed.

Large Smash clapped his large paws together. "Well, it's _what_ _I_ _know_, pal. The place she was buried at, for example. It was... uh... uh oh. My memory is slowly slipping away..."

Ever since hearing of her death, Flightly wanted nothing more than to visit the place where she was buried. Her team left for the North shortly after burying her, and He was never able to find out. If Large Smash knew something... "what do you want?" Flightly muttered. This was unbelievably disgusting, to risk his spot on Team Wayfarer in order to assist a criminal. But discovering Spell's final resting place was an absolute priority. The Bayleef saved him from being another violent feral.

"Good! Now that you're interested..." he looked about cautiously, and only continued when he was sure that no one could hear him. "I want to speak with Gastro privately," Large Smash said in a hushed tone. "Nothing violent, I promise. It's only that the slippery bastard closes up shop if I take a step towards his restaurant."

Nothing could go wrong with this, Flightly promised himself. It would be okay if he took on this little errand- how hard could it be to convince Gastro to speak to Large Smash? He was a little loopy, but he should understand. "Fine," the Pidgeotto said. "Are we done here?"

"Yes. Gastro for your dead girlfriend. I'll be at the " Large Smash chuckled. The Nidoking was very relieved to hear the Pidgeotto accept his conditions. As he stomped away pleased, Flightly wondered what it would feel like to catch a break once in a while.


	36. Kicks

"Whoa!" Ago cried out, pointing at the smoking post, "did you see that one, Lu? I think that was the best one yet!"

Lugum sighed and nodded tiredly. "Yes, Ago, I saw you electrocute the post." Gaining the ability to tap into his electric type moves had really transformed the gruff Pikachu into a small child. He was chronically intrigued by the ability and pointed his every use of it out to Lugum. Quite on the contrary, Lugum felt very tired of her own abilities.

Ago caught on to her boredom and quickly became offended. "Hey, Lugum, were you even watching that time?" The Riolu breathed out and punched the post halfheartedly. The action sent a sore pain throughout her cut paw. "Are you still worried about something?" Ago asked, inspecting his handiwork. "Lu, you really need to relax."

There was no use to holding it back, and the Pikachu would figure it out eventually. "I miss Flightly," she admitted. Moans came from her partner and attracted the attention of the other Pokémon in the Dojo. They looked over as he fought his own body for control.

"You miss Flightly. It's been two days... and you somehow miss Flightly. Weren't you _just_ furious with him?"

"And the others!" She argued, slapping the post again. If the Marowak who owned the Dojo saw her slacking off, she would throw her club at the Riolu. Due to the wound on her head, however, Lugum was unknowingly receiving some slack from the rigorous Marowak. "You know, we hardly introduced Lilith to everyone. Maybe if I had told her that Flightly was very stupid..."

Ago laughed. "Hell, put it that on a sign outside of a town! That'll solve a few problems." Lugum jumped as a sudden _crack_ tore through the Dojo. Electric type Pokémon weren't very common in Treasure Town, so Lugum never experienced the noises that accompanied their attacks. She really wished Ago wouldn't overdo it; their big exploration was only four days away. Asabi warned Ago about shorting out his new electricity and the consequences of using it so suddenly, but he was too excited to heed her wise words.

A club spun through the air and made a _crack_ of its own, smacking the Pikachu in the back of his head. "Hey you, Pikachu!" The owner of the Dojo shouted. "You're no Raikou! Pipe down your moves, thunder-boy!" Ago rubbed the back of his head, scowling.

"_Hey you Pikachu..._ I have a name, you know," he muttered.

The Marowak waved away his complaints and ran over to pick up her club. "Lugum, I see that you're making a whopping zero percent effort to improve yourself. Quit acting like that bump on the head is big deal. I've heard you had worse, if you know what I mean."

"I g-guess that's true," Lugum conceded. She raised a paw in an attempt to strike the post and appease the Marowak, but the bone club caught her arm, jarring it in place. "Hey, what did I do?" The Riolu squeaked nervously. The Marowak pulled the bone down and spun her around, to a large structure in the center of the large Dojo.

The instant she realized what the occasion was, her heart sunk. "No, you're past hitting posts. You need to work on real Pokémon. Spar or get the hell out of my Dojo! You don't have a job here anymore, so I'm not required to let you lay around." In a bizarre relation, it turned out that the brother of the kidnapped Marill was Lugum's only pupil. He wasn't very happy about her singed ear, and his father wasn't either.

It was the sparring ring or punching air outside and calling it training. Lugum cringed and moped over to the ring.

* * *

The ring stood elevated above the rest of the Dojo - that way, other Pokémon wouldn't be distracted by whatever went on inside. That, at the very least, was something to be thankful for. A ladder led up to the lobby of the ring, a circular cage that surrounded the stone ground inside. It didn't have a roof, and a mean-spirited Pokémon could easily toss their opponent straight out of the ring.

Just like, for example, the Drapion that flew over Lugum's head as she ascended the ladder. The Riolu recognized him from Team AWD as he crashed to the ground below, rolling across the large space of the Dojo. It filled her with dread; the Wigglytuff Guild occasionally rented out the ring for private sessions, which meant Lugum would have to fight someone she knew.

That, or punch Ago around. His electricity was strong, but not strong enough to prevent her from advancing. "Holy Magikarp!" Ago yelled, stunned. "Are you okay?!" The Drapion moaned sickly and fainted.

"Wait a minute - Ago, what was that? _Holy Magikarp?_ Since when have you tried to quit cussing?"

"Ever since we had a reputation to upkeep. You're already a loon that doesn't know how to properly exit a building, so I might as well avoid being the Guild jerk." Lugum winced guiltily and climbed the last few rungs of the ladder. Luckily, Ago managed to carry himself up just fine as well. What they saw at the top confused them, though. "Wait a minute," Ago pondered, "why is Doof in the ring?"

The apparently tough Bidoof breathed hard, but managed to give the two guests a nod. "Because I showed that Drapion what's what, yup! Nothing to... phew. Okay, it was something much." Lugum looked to their sides as Team Determination and Team AWD made their way around the metal cage. Not liking the way they surrounded her, Lugum ducked behind Ago. "Now... please don't punch anymore holes, yup!"

Sonder let loose a piercing laugh and kept it going until Flora prodded him with a leaf. "Hey, Lugum, have you improved your strength against concrete type Pokémon? I heard your training really _hit a wall!" _The two teams broke out into laughter. When Lugum noticed that Ago too was snickering, she made sure that he got a nice punch to the shoulder. "What brings you up here? I'm pretty sure this isn't your scene."

Flora stood by Lugum's side defensively. "She can be wherever she likes!" The Sunflora retorted.

"I'm... uh, here to spar." This received a mixed response from the two teams. Sonder tried to make more jokes, but no one felt inclined to join in on his laughing. Flora, as was becoming the norm for the friendly assistant, supported Lugum's decision. Team AWD - or what was left standing on the top of the arena - eyed her curiously, seriously considering what she could do. Doof fell asleep.

Weavile walked up to the Riolu, her arms crossed. "You know that it isn't a nice feeling, right? We train here like we're fighting ferals. If you slip up because you're nervous, it's going to hurt. Badly." Lugum gulped and nodded sickly. "Also, I heard about your little escapade in Shellder Town. That hyper beam of yours? It isn't allowed up here. Meaning that you do all of your fighting without damned crazy energy beams. Can you handle that?"

Lugum yelped when Ago patted her on the back. "She can handle anything, really." Honestly, the tough Riolu wasn't too sure. When was the last time she really boxed with an enemy? Too fuzzy to remember in its full horror, Lugum didn't remember killing the Machop on Mount Steel.

"I, wow," Lugum muttered to herself," turning over her paws. She killed something. A feral, but a Pokémon nonetheless. Lugum tried to recall how she felt? Obviously she felt tired and sick, but did she feel happy or disgusted? Truthfully, Lugum could only remember the nice sensation of warmth. Still recovering from her fever, a little heat from battle could help her a lot. "Uh, yeah. I don't mind getting hit. It happens often enough."

Sonder rolled his eyes. "_It happens often enough," _he mimicked in Lugum's simple voice.

"Will you fight me?" Lugum asked him. This took him off-guard, and the smirk on his face fell flat. "Well, you seem to have a lot of problems with me... so it would be good to get rid of them."

The smug grin Flora shot the unsure Loudred forced him to keep up his macho act. "You know what? Fine - it's your funeral, though. Don't go crying to your Pikachu or Pidgeotto when I give you _boo-boos." _Team AWD stood off to the side and let them through to the other side - to where the entrance was. The Riolu and the Loudred entered, and Sonder threw out the sleeping Bidoof. Lugum was sure of one thing: she would rather face Sonder than Doof. She wondered how he managed to beat the Drapion.

It was more than idle thinking; the Loudred had a distinct size and weight advantage. He knew this, and smiled cruelly. "Best out of three, one knock-down counts as a point." He chuckled. I hope you're not afraid of loud noises!" Lugum's heart went to thumping as the spectators slowly moved behind Sonder. For some reason, Lugum started to think that she was making a bad choice. Her back pressed against the metal cage as she tried to widen her distance from the Loudred. "Ready?"

Lugum regretted her choice already. Stupid Marowak. "Y-yes?"

A shrill voice cried out from outside the cage. "Fight_!" _

* * *

Lugum's head instantly split apart with the most screeching noise she ever heard. Paws meant to be protecting her face flew over her head as the screech literally sent her flying back. It was excruciating, deafening, and sickening. The cut on her head pulsated painfully as the screech ended. Without respite, Sonder slammed her back into the metal grate. The next moment, Lugum was writhing on the floor, sick and confused.

"She wasn't ready yet!" She heard Ago argue as her hearing returned. Moaning, the Riolu picked herself back up. "Arceus!"

"That was _overkill!" _Sonder cried out triumphantly. "Is that really all you got, Riolu? I thought you and your little clans were special. Guess I was wrong." Lugum closed her eyes and tried to dispel both his taunts and her growing headache. Somewhere out there, she was disappointing the Clan of Flowing Steel. Their banner laid in Sharpedo Bluff, collecting dust.

The most she could do, then, was give this another shot. "We're..." she shook off the remaining dizziness caused by the attack. "We're not finished yet. We've still got another round."

"Attagirl, Lu!" Ago called out. With Team AWD and Team Determination watching, she couldn't be a weakling. It would spread through the guild like wildfire.

He shrugged and fell back into position, ready to repeat what happened last round. "Ready for another headache, Lugum?"

"Y-y-yeah. I mean, I'm ready. N-not for the head-" she somehow stopped her rambling. "Yeah."

"_Fight!" _

Once again, the screech assailed her. This time, however, Lugum refused to uselessly cover her head; it didn't reduce the pain at all. Her vision became blurry as she endured the loud cacophony. Why was he allowed to scream, but Ago couldn't use electric attacks?

The question almost made her miss her only chance. Sonder jumped forward confidently, mistaking her ready position as cringing. Lugum snapped to his right and gripped his arm tightly. The momentum from his reckless charge allowed her to lift them both into the air. She planted her feet on the metal gate and swung him into it. The attack jarred her arms, but also sent the Loudred bouncing away.

Lugum knew she should be happy, but puking was probably going to come before celebrating, now. With one more round left, Lugum acknowledged that she couldn't bear through another screech. Her head reeled as she dropped down to her knees, and her mind became very fuzzy and lost within itself.

* * *

_A small explosion of air billowed out from the dark figure as he kicked. The rock in front of him shattered, adding to the noise. Lugum yelped and covered her ears desperately, trying to block out the scary, uninvited noise. "Why is this so hard for you?" He asked calmly, turning to her. "Punch the stone in front of you. Focus on speed."_

_Lugum rose to her feet. The Riolu couldn't quite see where this place was but the weather chilled her to the bones. Adhering to the strange figure, a fierce paw rocketed into the stone, so fast its movement was effectively invisible. _

_But this success did not impress the figure. Lugum cried out as his foot smashed her body into the stone, planting it there. "No!" He yelled angrily. "Faster!"_

_"It doesn't get any faster!" Lugum begged. "You must be using the aura to make your kicks explode like that!"_

_"No! They are faster than sound- this is what happens when one trains. Do you wish to die a child or live forever?"_

_"Live forever!" She screamed._

_"Faster than sound! Wrench your body and focus on speed or die a pathetic swine undeserving of your new body!" _

* * *

_"Fight!" _

Lugum snapped out of her stupor and started to panic. When did she say yes to fighting the third round? Luckily, Sonder was injured from her previous attack on him, and it took him a second to prepare a screech. There was no time to think about her strange memory, only the time to act. She scooped herself into a ball and leaped into the air. _Wrench your body, focus on speed._

Contorting her body to its limits, she twisted it around to the brink of injury. Her right foot went from one place to another with absolutely no transition; the screech from the Loudred never made it through her blindingly fast kick.

It was too late to stop just yet! Hitting the ground hard, Lugum kicked out with her left leg and flung her arm out. The ring became a blur as she flew through the air. She yelled out in pain when her body smashed into the metal grate, but it didn't equal the cry coming from Sonder. The clothesline the Riolu just threw at him sent him into a fit on the ground, trying to use that giant mouth of his to fill up his lungs again.

"_Fuck this!" _Sonder gasped fearfully. "_What was that?! It... it hurts!" _Unable to handle the pain, the large Loudred went unconscious. Ago whooped victoriously, as if this wall his doing.

Lugum rubbed her paws together nervously. "Sorry, Sonder. Was that too rough for the sparring ring?"

Everyone waiting outside - even an exhausted Drapion - fell into a laughing fit. "N-no," Lugum explained shyly, "I'm serious. I think I really hurt him."

"The stupid fool is fine," Weavile laughed. "Arceus, Lugum - I thought I had a good grasp on what a mach kick looked like... but that was plain ridiculous!" Lugum tried to walk out of the ring, but a wrenching pain coursed through her leg. It sent her to the floor and forced her to stretch her right leg out. They all looked at her oddly, wondering if she was okay.

She gave them an upside-down smile. "Cramps," she chuckled nervously. When they all laughed, Lugum became so happy she could cry.

Finally, after all this time... her first positive interaction with her guild-mates. After all this time, she was now a part of them! The euphoria coursing through her made her forget about the dark figure and his familiar, angry voice.


	37. IMPORTANT NOTE

**I'm breaking the rules :(**

Hello everyone - silent readers, reviewers, and followers! I'm sorry that this story went on such a random hiatus, but I was conflicted on whether or not I should go out to do this and real life really wrecked me in terms of time management.

The truth is that I'm planning to do a _major_ reboot of this story in an attempt to correct some of the most outgoing issues I can see in it. Some of these problems, however, may be points that attract you - an individual reader - to the plot. Here is a list of some of the more neutral changes I will be making to the plot in my reboot:

- Cursing will be removed entirely. Other than the occasional 'damn', ' bastard', or 'pissed', don't expect to see any vulgarity in the rewrite.

- Lugum will have a static character personality. That is, how she is at the very beginning of the plot: extremely timid and fearful with hints at underlying aggression. The paw-clapping and ultimately doltish behavior she exhibited at times were not in character at all.

- Flightly and Lugum will no longer be lovers at first sight. Flightly's backstory will be presented in a better way than already done.

- Twenty chapters just to join the guild, with no real plot progress? That has to change; I plan to get around to this story's point in only ten chapters by finally giving this piece the attention it deserves.

- Roposo and Rekel removed from beginning. Maybe permanently.

- Guildmates introduced _much_ earlier. Teams won't be throwaway callbacks to PMD explorers of darkness.

- Less P.O.V shifts; I tell this story from Lugum's perspective or not at all, because you guys deserve to have some intrigue. No more crutches.

There is also an extremely interesting author, whose story actually gave me a fantastic idea for a collaboration. If it goes right, this story might play into his universe. If it goes right, Lugum may no longer be a Riolu and Ago no longer a Pikachu. I know that's a dramatic change, but I feel like we're writing two pieces to the same puzzle.

**If you have any questions, send me a private message. **


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